


Scions of Heaven

by Ekian



Series: Scions of Heaven [1]
Category: Three Lives Three Worlds - The Pillow Book, 三生三世十里桃花 - 唐七公子 | Three Lives Three Worlds; Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms - Tangqi Gongzi, 三生三世十里桃花 | Three Lives Three Worlds; Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms | Eternal Love (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Happy, Hurt/Comfort, MUltiple Character Perspectives, Other, Prologue, Romance, WIP, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-05-14 19:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19279498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ekian/pseuds/Ekian
Summary: Dong Hua and Bai Fengjiu, Ye Hua and Bai Qian. These names are known and their love is legend.But is fate finished with their tales? Is destiny so easy to defy?(Over thirty thousand years have passed since the death Qing Cang at Ruoshui.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I've ever written, so comments and feedback is greatly appreciated! even negative is good!

Year 163,947 of the reign of Hao De Tianjun – Second King of Heaven. 

Green Hill Kingdom – Eastern Realm – Fox Den 

Bai Fengjiu, granddaughter of the Fox Emperor, Queen of the Eastern Realm in the Kingdom of Green Hill and wife of Dong Hua was currently scrutinising every inch of her Fox Den, checking to make sure everything was perfect.

And of course, it was. She was slightly put out that she could not find a reason to complain at Dong Hua for not ordering everything perfectly. Her cruel husband did not even provide her with an excuse to grumble. As if sensing her mood, the child growing in her belly chose that particular moment to energetically kick her ribs, bruising her already abused bones.

Currently in her and Dong Hua’s private chamber, she took a moment to sit on her bed to rest a bit. Less than a minute later this had morphed in to her lying on her side, supported by a virtual mountain of pillows. The child was still enthusiastically kicking away. Well, at least now she had a valid reason to growl and grumble at Dong Hua when he returned from speaking with Si Ming in the main hall. 

The constant stream of maids, courtiers, supplicants and general well-wishers that flooded/crowded Taichen palace when they were there was enough to give her a headache. She was looking forward to the peace and quiet of the fox den with only Migu, Dong Hua and the occasional visit from a family member or friend in the next few months.

Well, no one had really ‘flooded’ or ‘crowded’ Taichen Palace, Dong Hua would never have put up with it, and no one was really brave enough to try. But that was what it had felt like to her in any case. She could have chosen to stay at the Blue Sea Palace if all she wanted was peace, but she’d felt drawn to spend the next two months in the Fox Den. She’d planned to live in the Blue Sea Palace before she’d had Gungun, but his quick friendship with her Aunts dumpling son Bai Chen had meant it made more sense to live in Taichen Palace.

Fengjiu had adamantly refused all maids, guards and other irritants to be allowed to float around her Fox Den, her husband had not been sanguine about it at first. She had pointed out that she managed to bring Gungun into the world without such things, and they were certainly not required now, thank you very much. With the weighty history behind her son’s birth Dong Hua wisely acquiesced. With no servants other than Migu around she intended to make the occasional very silly demand of Dong Hua, a small vengeance for him not having to suffer tiny feet prancing around the walls of his stomach.

Her son Gungun, with his gift of being able to sense the emotions of others if they were potent enough, had escaped her mood-swings relatively unscathed in the past few months; but even his luck would run out sooner or later. And so he was being shipped off to her Aunt Bai Qian and Ye Hua for the majority of the next two months to share lessons with Chenchen. Dong Hua would be too busy tending to her to continue being Gungun’s primary teacher. 

All these thoughts filled her mind, but as she was warm, comfortable and lying down they all slipped away as she entered the realm of sleep. 

She must not have slept for more than a few minutes, for when gentle hands stroking the hair on her head caused her to wake, there was none of the grogginess that came from long sleep. 

“It appears I will be delayed in returning to you once I deliver Gungun to Bai Qian.”, Dong Hua whispered softly.

“Mmhm, why?” She murmured, eye closed in reluctance to wake fully from her doze. 

“Hao De.” Her husband stated, as he traced his finger across her face lovingly.

Fengjiu almost cursed, she opened her eyes and rose to a seated position. Dong Hua came to sit beside her, his hand now moved to caress her raised belly, arm around her shoulder. What did that doddering, pompous incompetent waste of divinity want with her husband now? They still had a few hundred years left before the time Hao De promised them was used up, was he truly so desperate and useless to not be able to manage Heaven alone for a mere thirty thousand years? Yes, he likely was.

The incumbent King of Heaven, Hao De in a strange fit of conscience and self-reflection had offered to manage to rule by himself for thirty thousand years, without relying on Ye Hua or Dong Hua. This so they could devote their time to enjoying their children’s early years. This was somewhat of an apology for his poor treatment of Ye Hua in his youth, and his shameless reliance on Dong Hua to keep heaven from collapsing due to his almost criminal level of incompetence, arrogance and pomposity. She was infinitely grateful that she rarely had to interact with the idiot.

“So, what does the woman-hating, walking pile of tacky gold incompetence want from you now?” She asked heatedly, annoyed that her husband was going to be pulled away now, just when she was looking forward to spending a few months of peace and quiet with him. 

Dong Hua was amused, “Such vitriol my wife, surely that is not good for the baby?” He teased, dancing fingers across her stomach in a way that was almost ticklish. 

“Well, some fire in her blood will do her good, no one gets everything they want by being kind and permissive all the time.” She stated pointedly, clearly indicating she thought he was being too kind pandering to that old fool Hao De. 

He did not reply, but the look he sent her was full of love, and apology. She managed to keep up her irritation with him for a total of three seconds before it melted away, and she sighed.

“So, what calamity are you to solve now and how long will it take?”, She asked.

“A minor issue with the Ghost Realm, a few days at best.” The reply was matter-of-fact, but the tone was apologetic.

The instability of the Ghost Realm was nothing new, it had been in a near constant state of unrest for the past thirty thousand years, an unpleasant background discord in the music of time. Her uncle ruled the Western Realm of Green Hill and as it shared largest border with the Ghost Realm, he was the one who dealt with any issues regarding that place. As a result she had not paid much mind to the Ghost Realm, in these past years and was quite ignorant of it’s goings on.

She sent her husband a querying look.

“You don’t need to trouble yourself with it.” He waved off, seemingly not wanting her to worry.

“I won’t trouble myself, of course. But I would like to know what is going on, and why this silly place is going to take my husband away from me now, of all times.” She asked pointedly. If it were truly something imminently calamitous then break or no, Dong Hua would have moved to solve it. 

Dong Hua hummed a sound of agreement and started to explain and Fengjiu closed her eyes listen as Dong Hua’s melodic voice filled her in on the past thirty thousand years of politics and intrigue in the Ghost Realm.

It was then that she learned that because Li Jing, Qing Cang and Li Yuan had all died in the same year, and the Ghost Tribe had not had any luck finding Princess Yan Zhi and the rumoured living son of Li Jing the place had been in constant turmoil. Without an heir from Qing Cang’s line, none of the lesser tribes were willing to bow down to the other. The Ghost Realm had been in a state of near constant civil war since Qing Cang’s death. 

No Ghost King had managed to sit on the throne of the Dark Palace for more than one hundred years before they met a sticky end. Whether the Ghost King was backed by heaven or clawed their way from the ranks of the lesser tribes seemingly made no difference. The inhabitants of the Ghost Realm seemed to be almost revelling in the chaos and bloodshed, with no will among any of them to have peace. 

The flare ups of violence and civil war occasionally spilled out into neighbouring lands, and the Kingdom of Green Hill was not immune, receiving it’s fair share of fleeing refugees. Apparently Hao De’s inability to stabilise the Ghost Realm had caused his suitability to rule into question by the majority of the four Sea Kings, and not a few of the lesser tribes of heaven. There were rumblings and covert manoeuvres to replace Hao De with Ye Hua, who despite not having been a part of ruling since he married Bai Qian was still highly regarded. There were even a few vying to put Dong Hua back on the throne of heaven, but these were voices from the younger generations, the elder’s knew he would sooner break the throne than sit on it.

Dong Hua finished regaling her with history, though his face still had the remnants of an amused smile on his face, likely from the idea that anyone would try and make him do anything, let alone re-seat himself on the throne of heaven. 

“So, this is not just ‘a minor issue’ of the Ghost Realm, this involves Heaven and it’s lesser tribes, the Sea Kings, and who knows what else?” She mused.

Dong Hua made a noncommittal noise and stated with seeming cheer, “The Demon Tribe is also eying the Ghost Realm and it’s disunity, the Yellow, Green and White Demon Clans have already been skirmishing, and ‘residing’ in almost a sixth of the Ghost Realms’ territory.”

Fengjiu would have sighed and complained that her husband was not taking the entire matter seriously enough, but he’d likely solved a thousand such events as this before she had even been born, probably before breakfast too, or maybe in his sleep.

So instead she rolled her eyes at her husband and nudged his shoulder with her own in reprimand for his nonchalance. 

“So, the great walking incompetence needs you to clean the embarrassing stain of unrest he has not been able to remove from the tapestry of his time as a ruler, lest the whole thing unravel.” She summarised, her tone not at all pleased.

Dong Hua blinked in bemusement, “Your words are flowery, but you make me sound like a particularly honoured laundry maid, I assure you I’ve never been a laundry maid.”

“I have been,”, she began, her eyes unfocused slightly as memories of her time playing maid in Taichen Palace flooded back, it seemed a lifetime ago now, “And it’s not nearly as tedious and troublesome as having to play nursemaid to that idiot.” She finished, angrily flicking and pulling a tassel on the pillow she was holding. 

Dong Hua leaned over and his hands, came to rest on hers, stilling her attempts to murder the pillow, imagining it was the great-incompetence’s face. She stared at his hands on hers, still quietly amazed that though they were slender and elegant, there was enough power in a single finger to set the world aflame and pluck stars from heavens net.

“I shall have to ask that no one mention Hao De to you while I am gone,”, he mused aloud, and started playing with her fingers, entangling and detangling, dancing away when she tried to entangle them again. In a flash he caught both her hands again, and kissed the tip of each finger gently, in a near whisper he finished his earlier musing, “else I will return to all the pillows in the Fox Den turned back into fabric strands through violent means.”

Dong Hua’s attempt at pacifying her anger worked, and her irritation at him having to leave escaped her body with a small sigh, but she was still put out that Hao De was cause. Anyone else and she wouldn’t be half as mad, but she had no patience or kind thoughts for that man. 

“Why do you not just let them replace Hao De? He is useless.” She replied, only half-joking. She really did hate that old fart. Dong Hua had finished kissing each of her fingers and her hands now rested in her lap, though she wiggled them into the pillow she was holding to shake off the lingering touch his lips left on them.

“You think Ye Hua would thank me if he found himself on the throne of heaven a few hundred years early, having to sort out the river of blood and webs of intrigue that would result from the usurpation?”, Dong Hua asked tone playful, his brow was raised and there was a smile on his lips.

“Maaaybe he would?” She postulated, though the elongated word and her tone made it clear she was playing, challenging Dong Hua to ‘convince’ her otherwise. 

“Ye Hua would have less time to spend with his little son Fuzan, who was born only three years ago,” Dong Hua played along, “It would also mean greater scrutiny on both Bai Chen and Fuzan as people speculate which of their two sons if any, is worthy of being the Crown Prince.” he stated, and seeing that this was not ‘convincing’ her, used his trump card “your aunt would be displeased.” He finished. 

“I suppose they might be slightly put out with you.” She admitted reluctantly, tone full of exaggerated sulkiness. 

“Slightly.” Her husband agreed wryly, “And I’d likely be called to help anyway.”

“I just wish you were not called away at all.” She managed not to sigh, but her displeasure at the whole affair still tinged her tone.

“Does this mean you will miss me, and pine away at the lotus pool waiting for my return?” He teased.

Ah, she was a veteran at this game, and in this she rarely lost, “Hardly,” she scoffed in exaggerated distain, “I will miss my loquat peeler, Migu does not peel them half as well as you; it’s the only thing you are good at.”

“Then I shall return as soon as possible, and peel all the loquat’s you demand of me.” He promised.

Appeased, she replied “And if I buy and demand you peel every fruit in the market?”

“I will peel loquat’s until the end of time, if it pleases you,” he began, “But loquats do require a world to exist in, and so to keep my promise to you, I fear I must save the world first.” His tone one of commiseration. 

“Mhm, I suppose shall have to allow it then, for the loquats.” She replied.

“I shall have to think of a suitable offering to thank you for your magnanimity.” He whispered as he kissed her on the nose. 

“Hao De’s head.” She replied, completely deadpan. Full of energy and bored of sitting she started to stand up. Dong Hua was there not a half second later, hand on her arm, helping her to rise. 

She was not anywhere near invalid enough to need help standing from a seated position, but the action was sweet of him. If it made him feel like he was helping, then who was she to disabuse him of the notion?

“Perhaps something less macabre and chaos inducing.”, Dong Hua suggested, he was watching her walk around the chamber with an amused-indulgent look on his face. 

She pondered for a long moment, as she walked around. What could she ask for that she did not already have? She was about to reply with something sappy like ‘the only thing I need is you’, when a whimsical thought struck her. She liked the image the thought had conjured, and so she smiled and said, “Then I’d like a star.”

“A star?” He queried, such a request was simple for him to accomplish, he was expecting a more arduous task.

“Mhm, make that two stars. For questioning me.” She responded, teasing.

“I would never dare question you,” he stated with a raised brow, “but this foolish husband of yours is confused, if the kind lady could enlighten him, he would be most grateful.” Came the self-effacing reply.

She could understand his confusion; she’d never been one to collect pretty jewellery or items of rarity. She was a nine tailed fox, not some common magpie.

“It’s for the little one,” she stated, patting her stomach “I may have no sense of vanity for myself, but I like the idea of this little one wearing a star. I will have my loving husband, my wonderful doveling son and my little star daughter.” She sighed happily.

“I’m grateful you have not attempted to adorn Gungun with stars, he’d have been quite unimpressed.” Her husband noted wryly.

“Maybe I shall make you wear them instead, to make me happy.” She teased. 

He came over then, and the back of his hand stroked her cheek, a delicate caress. 

“If it would make you happy to see me dance above the jade pool with a feather in my hair as my only adornment, I would do it.” He claimed.

“That is a…,” outrageously scandalous “…colourful image,” she finished, but it was not like him at all to come up with such a thing, “And that is not your idea.” She accused.

“Nothing escapes you,” The smile he sent her was utterly shameless at being caught, “I overheard Cheng Yu demanding Lian Song do so, for what reason I do not know.” he admitted. 

“Overheard? Are you taking notes from Si Ming? Has the living Buddhist encyclopaedia been corrupted into becoming the second gossip encyclopaedia?” She poked his chest a few times, as if she was checking he was still Dong Hua and not a second Si Ming. 

“They hover around Taichen Palace like a pair of over-loud, energetic glow flies.” He defended. 

She hummed in a noncommittal manner, the same one he did when he was not quite convinced of something, but that it was not interesting enough to pursue or correct. A nonverbal, ‘I see’. 

“Besides, we were speaking of stars, what would you like them to be like?” He asked in a clear attempt to change the subject.

She kindly allowed it, “The smallest and dimmest star in the sky, so that if she wears it, it would be almost unnoticeable.” She replied. 

Dong Hua made a small hum of approval, “True elegance lies in subtlety,”, he stated, before asking “What colour do you want these stars to be?”. 

“A bluish white one, and….a pinkish red.” She mused out loud, and before Dong Hua could open his mouth to ask why she explained, “If her hair is like yours, the blue would suit best, but if it is like mine, then the pink would work better.” She finished, not needing to go into extreme detail with her husband, who’s taste for colour was admittedly more advanced than her own. 

“It will be as my lady wife wishes, when I return from heaven I shall gift you with stars.” He vowed. 

“As you should.” She responded in a snooty tone, and posed in an exaggeratedly regal fashion, she managed to hold her laugher for only two seconds before she broke into a fit of giggling at her own silliness. 

After she recovered, she asked, “Speaking of doves and stars, where is Gungun?”. She had not seen him for close to an hour now, and was curious about what he was up to, though she could take a good guess.

“I believe he is in his chamber, currently engrossed in reading Samdavi’s version of ‘On the creation of all that is’.”, he informed her.

“Nose in a scroll,”, she sighed, “You know, I think I gave birth to a worm, not a boy, a beautiful bookish worm,” she tempered, “but still.”.

“He would be sad to hear you describe him so.”, Dong Hua noted with a serious tone, though she could tell he was teasing her by the slight curve of his lips. 

“Don’t be a bully, you know I do not mean it like that,”, she replied, poked his shoulder in vengeance for his teasing her, “Of course any mother would be pleased to have such a well behaved and scholarly child.” She said. 

“But?” He encouraged, picking up on the slight regret in her tone.

She would never admit that she was jealous and a bit sad that her son no longer clung to her side as he did when he was younger. Now he chose to spend near every spare moment he had reading a book, or discussing Buddhist texts with Dong Hua. Or he would spend time with Bai Chen, her aunts eldest son. She used to call him dumpling, and had once held the name Ah Li, given to him by Su Su her aunts mortal incarnation. 

Instead of stating her true feelings on the matter, she said “But it feels like he’s been grown up since before he could toddle.” Her tone melancholy.

“Is that not the fate of every mother? To mourn the loss of a child being wholly theirs, and instead becoming their own being, separate from their parents?” 

“Well, of course it is,”, somewhat offended by his stating the obvious, “However facts are not comforting. Husbands are supposed to be, and you are currently not doing a good job of it.” She accused as she crossed her arms in annoyance.

Dong Hua moved swiftly and caught her in a gentle embrace, and in a moment she had melted into him, her crossed arms now wrapped around him.

“Is this better?” He asked, and she could feel the vibrations of his speech where her head was resting on his shoulder.

She smiled, but he would not be able to see that, and so she made a happy sound of affirmation and nodded into his robes. She could hear the beat of his heart, a soothing sound. Absently she began to play with his hair, twirling sections of it into haphazard two part braids. 

“I think you might be pleased to have such a well behaved child once this one comes along.” He suggested.

“That is likely, our daughter has not yet arrived and already she causing chaos by meddling with my emotions and making me want to cuddle Gungun and never let him go.” She complained, not happy that her emotions were all over the place, even more than normal. 

“You can’t have him at your side all the time,” he agreed, “But I can go and extract him from his book, so you may spend time with him now, if you would like?” He asked, indulgent.

“Please.” She affirmed. Those two were both to be at her Aunt’s place in just under an hour, and she would not see Gungun for a week once they left. 

“Wait here a moment.” He said, after he had kissed her on the cheek and ended their embrace.

She watched as he exited the room, the lilac outer robe he wore billowed slightly as he moved. The silk it was spun from was light and had a faint sheen to it, but it was not so lightly spun as to be transparent.

After he disappeared around the corner and through the door she decided to sit down on her bed to wait for them to return.


	2. Chapter 2

Less than a minute passed before she heard someone approaching, a moment after that Gungun appeared at the entryway. He had her nose, and the shape of his eyes were a mix of both of them. But everything else, from his skin tone to hair colour he was a little miniature of his father.

At thirty thousand, he had just reached the mortal equivalent age of a ten year old, and was shorter than one would expect for that age. His head barely reached her breastbone, and it only came slightly above Dong Hua’s waist. Still, Zhe Yan assured her that when he did hit his growth spurt he may well end up taller than Dong Hua, a fact that seemed to amuse the old peach loving phoenix immensely. 

He bowed and greeted her, always proper and polite. 

“Father said he had something important to do, and I should come here to greet you.” He announced.

“Did he now?” She asked, intrigued. She gestured for him to come over and when he was in range she gave him a hug. After she released him he sat down next to her on the bed and she resisted the urge to play with his hair and ruin it’s perfect styling. 

“He did,” her son affirmed, “But I saw father walk over to Migu before I came in here, so it cannot be that important.” He stated confidently.

“It is likely your father is discussing defences.” She replied, surprised at her son’s casual dismissal of Migu as unimportant. 

“With Migu?” her son asked sceptically. 

Here she frowned at him.

“Migu has lived and served our Fox Den for over two hundred thousand years. You know that tree spirit shields grow stronger the longer they live and stay in one place,” she waited for Gungun to nod in affirmation that he knew the information before she continued. “I’ve only known Migu’s shield to have been broken once in all that time, and that was your father’s doing.” She explained, but her tone carried a clear edge of disapproval; she was offended on poor Migu’s behalf.

“Oh, that is important. I was wrong to assume it was not, just because it was Migu.”, Gungun admitted, abashed. 

“You were,” she agreed, and upon seeing her son’s rather dejected countenance, continued, “but I doubt you will assume such things again.” And that was likely true, her son rarely made mistakes twice.

“I will not”, he promised solemnly. 

In any case she wanted to spend time with her son before he left for a week, not sit here and scold him. So she hugged him closely for a moment, planted a kiss on his head and released him, as did so she asked, “Your father told me what book you were reading, did you find anything fun or interesting in it?”. Asking about what he had read or learned recently was almost the only way to get Gungun talking in more than five word sentences. 

Excited Gungun spent the next twenty minutes describing all the lore and history he found the most interesting. Halfway through describing the Battle of Falling Clouds he paused, and small tiny frown appeared on his face.

“Father is in that book, did you know?”, Gungun queried.

“I did, your father is in many books and scrolls.” She replied, not quite sure why this would cause her son to frown. Falling Clouds was one of the battles Dong Hua had been recorded as leading, a rare account of the chaos that was the prehistoric era. She did not think Dong Hua was injured in that battle, and her son’s displeasure confused her all the more. 

“It has pictures, but they do not look like father at all, it is not accurate.”, Gungun emphasised, offended. Her son’s little scholar heart could not handle inconsistency and error, especially in purported works of history.

She smiled as the memory of when she had first met Dong Hua came rushing back, she’d said the same thing ‘you don’t look like him’ right after he’d introduced himself. The pictures really did look nothing like him, aside from the hair colour. But even that sometimes changed from white or silver to light shades of blond, blue, green and once, even pink. 

She had teased that he should dye his hair to one of the more outlandish colours for ‘historical accuracy’. To her delight and horror, he had swiftly cast an illusion on himself that changed his hair to a rather delicate shade of blue. She remembered that she’d laughed herself silly, and swiftly begged him to change it back once she had caught her breath. He’d kept it that way for the day, and every time she’d looked at him she’s laugh herself to tears until he eventually relented and dispelled the illusion. It was a dangerous game, to tease the former Emperor of Heaven and Earth. 

She brought herself from the memories to realise that her son had been patiently waiting a few seconds for her to respond. 

“Well that is not very good,” she agreed, “But we should not be too upset my son.”

“Why not?” He asked, seemingly quite ready to continue to be outraged at this incorrect portrayal of his noble father. 

“Well, your father does not have it as bad as High God Mo Yuan,” she began, “who does not, as you know have three heads, six arms, or breathe fire.”

“If they do not know, they should not write or draw it. The book is purportedly historical, and it’s wrong.” He argued, why did neither of his parent’s care, he wondered, frustrated. He had always learned that history could be dangerous; passing down incorrect information could have world changing consequences! 

“Well, I blame your father more than the artists, if he hadn’t have been such a hermit, maybe they would have been able to better portray him.” She said, blithely. 

A second later Fengjiu saw her son’s brow crease ominously and quickly moved to change the subject. Visible frustration or annoyance from her son was always a precursor to Gungun throwing his version of a tantrum. Likely he thought that he was simply passionately delivering an eloquent and well-reasoned argument. In reality he turned into a little scowl-demon and often ended raising his voice unacceptably, sometimes nearly shouting. 

“Speaking of books, facts and other such things, are you still happy about living with Aunt, and Uncle Ye Hua? And taking lessons with Chenchen until your sister arrives?” She asked quickly, in a haphazard attempt to distract her son from his impending tantrum.

She never had to specify which Aunt, because Fengjiu only had one, and Bai Qian had been insistent that Gungun call her Aunt and Ye Hua Uncle. In the same vein Bai Chen and little Fuzan when he could talk would refer to her and Dong Hua as Aunt and Uncle. That was the simplest way to sort out all the complicated rankings. 

“Of course, why would I not be? Has something changed? Will I not be able to see you once a week while I am there, or father? Or study?” He asked, concerned. 

She supposed she should be grateful that she was mentioned first in his list, she would have been quite saddened if books had come before her in his heart. She was more thankful that her distraction worked, she was useless at discipline, so she became very good at manipulating things so she did not have to. 

“No, no changes, I just wanted to be sure you’re happy.” She reassured.

“Then I don’t understand why you think I would suddenly not be happy?” He asked with no small amount of confusion, “You checked with me last evening, and if nothing has change-”, he started.

“Yes, yes you are quite right,” she interrupted, “I’m just being silly, don’t think on it.”

“Okay”, came the bemused agreement from her little son.

A stray thought struck her then, and she was glad she remembered.

“Speaking of happiness, little Mei is quite enamoured of her ‘white cousin’ and Uncle Bai Jun is wondering when you might visit again.” She informed. 

Her eldest uncle Bai Jun had been blessed with a girl around five hundred years ago, little Bai Mei was the first grandchild of the Fox Emperor since she herself was born a hundred thousand years previous. 

Her son had played with and taken care of little Mei with the same serious and quiet focus she only ever saw when he was studying. It had been extremely cute, if unexpected to have him show such interest, when he had never shown any fondness for anyone that could not provide him with esoteric facts or in-depth debate.

“Though when I think about it, I’m still bemused that you asked to go and visit your little cousin. You’ve never been fond of the little ones before.” She mused. 

As Gungun was sitting next to her, it was almost impossible to miss the way he froze, it was a slight movement, but enough to catch her notice.

Why would he freeze so guiltily at her wondering why he was spending so much time with little Mei…

Wait, surely he would not…. suspicious she looked at her son more closely, and saw that there was something in his eyes that was not quite fear or panic, but it was something close to worry. 

“Were using your little cousin as a practice tool for when your sister arrives?” She decided to come out and ask, bluntly. 

“I love my cousin,” he defended, “Little Mei is very cute, who wouldn’t want to spend time with her?”. 

“You did not answer my question, yes or no.” She demanded, catching his attempt at deflection. 

He squirmed slightly before he admitted, “I might have done,”, he moved and stood a foot from her and bowed his head in apology “I am sorry,” he said.

His head rose again as he moved swiftly to try and defend himself, “But it is said ‘desire alone does not gain one skill’ and that ‘one must apply themselves through constant practice to attain perfection in any endeavour’.”

The way he went about it was underhanded, and it would surely upset her uncle, aunt-in-law and little Bai Mei if they found out the real reason he wanted to visit was simply to use their child as practice for when his little sister appeared. By rights she should punish him, make him go back to her second uncle and his family and tell them the truth, and reinforce any further discipline Bai Jun might want to set for Gungun’s deceit.

Gungun was standing, tense, unmoving and silent; awaiting her judgement. Her son never used any of the tactics she once did to try and get out of trouble. There was no pleading; no innocent looks or sad eyes were thrown her way.

She almost wished he would, because at least then she would have an excuse for why she was lenient so often. The feeling behind why he was deceitful was a very sweet one, and she reasoned that no harm would come from it if no one found out.

She noticed that his shoulders had relaxed ever so slightly, he likely had felt her emotions, and sensed that she was not full of wrath and judgement. She really should punish him, or she could inform Dong Hua and let him deal with it. 

But he did it to practice being a good big brother, and that was the most heart meltingly adorable of him. She sat there for a few more seconds, teetering between letting him off and helping him cover it up, and doing what she supposed is the right thing and punishing him for it. She had decided on telling Dong Hua and letting him decide what to do when her previously sleeping daughter started moving around in her belly. 

And… she couldn’t do it, he had been deceitful for a good reason, even if it was not a good action. As she so often did, she let him off. 

She sighed, “I suggest we go and visit second uncle and little Mei a few times after your sister arrives, otherwise it is a bit too suspicious, they might wonder as I did and figure it out.”

She watched as Gungun’s eyes widened in surprise and his shoulders dropped in relief. 

“Just because I am not punishing you now, does not mean that lying and being deceitful with family is ever acceptable.” She scolded, or attempted to, she had never managed to cultivate a ‘stern’ tone.

“Does that mean it is okay to be deceitful if they are not family?”

“Only with your enemies, and as you do not have any enemies, it is not okay to be deceitful at all.”, She could see his little mind plotting something, and as he sometimes thought like she did guessed where his thoughts had gone.

“That does not mean you can go and make enemies just so you have an excuse to lie.”

“I would not.” He replied, all innocence. 

She nearly sighed again, children were hard enough to keep up with, but when you had a little prodigy and were not one yourself? “In any case, if you do something like this again, I will throw you to your father and start the mourning process for your untimely demise.” She warned, her words and tone were more levity than she was going for. 

Gungun smiled as he promised not to do such a thing again, “I will not mother.” 

She really was hopeless.

Still she consoled herself with the thought that fathers are supposed to be 'stern and dignified', where mothers are 'gentle and compassionate' in regards to children. So really she was just adhering to the general consensus and rules in regards to parental roles in the nine heavens.

She had quite selfishly left all the duty of being stern and meting out discipline to Dong Hua. He was good at it, strict, but eminently fair and consistent. It was not too long ago she was doing far more silly and dangerous things, and she couldn’t quite handle being on the other side. Considering she had just covered for Gungun’s rather callous and underhanded use of his little cousin, she should probably try and contribute something to this parenting thing. 

“Speaking of family, you’ll behave for Aunt and Uncle Ye Hua won’t you? Remember you’ll still have your father to answer to, on top of whatever punishment Aunt and Uncle Ye Hua set if you misbehave.” She warned. 

Her son was eminently more mature and sensible than Bai Chen, and most adults if she were honest. But her eldest nephew did very occasionally manage to pull Gungun into mischief. Her son’s extensive knowledge and intelligence meant they found themselves in impressive levels of trouble, far more than if either of them had acted alone. Fengjiu remembered encouraging Bai Chen when he had been a dumpling into mischief before Gungun was born. Now she could not bear to see either her son or little Chenchen in trouble. Parenthood did strange things to a person.

In response to her warning Gungun sent her a look that was a clear mix of amused, indignant and incredulous. The expression all but screamed, ‘I behave very well.’, and clearly indicated that he thought her lacking in that regard. Just over thirty thousand years had gone by since his birth, and she still had not decided whether his inheriting Dong Hua’s gift for having full blown conversations with miniscule facial movement a blessing or a curse. 

“Don’t be mean to your poor mother.” She bemoaned dramatically, putting on a convincing look of sorrow to match her exaggerated tone.

“But mother, I did not say anything.”, Came the aggrieved response from her son.

“You did not need to, and you know it, cheeky brat.”, She replied, as she poked his forehead with a finger.

“I am not cheeky, or a brat. I am very well behaved.”, Came the indignant half-muffled response. He had raised his hands to protect his head, which had caused his sleeves to fall in front of his face.

“You are,” She seemingly agreed, pausing for a second before continuing “a very well behaved cheeky brat.”

Seemingly deciding that this was not the hill he wanted to die on her son dodged having to respond by placing a hand on her belly, right over where his little sister was growing. He had been doing so almost religiously since he knew she was pregnant. As if she were somehow incompetent in the matter and needed him to check she was doing this pregnancy thing correctly. Sometimes she swore her son was looking forward to this baby appearing more than she and Dong Hua were!

Then her heart melted as her mature, composed, responsible son placed his head on her belly and whispered to his unborn sister, “You need to be good, and not come out before I am here.”

“Two months until she is ready to be born, and already you are scolding your poor sister. If you keep that up she’ll not want to come out at all.” She pointed out.

Gungun raised his head to look at her, “Of course she will come out.”, He said and Fengjiu fully expected her serious and scholarly son to start explaining the mechanics of childbirth to her, again, for the eighth time.

But then he wrapped his little arms around her bump, and with his head resting just above where his little sister was growing he spoke, “I cannot hug you if you stay in there forever, little sister.”

Gungun was excited to be the most attentive, protective and best big brother in all the heavens as he gently patted his mother’s stomach, where his sister was sleeping. He would show her all the interesting places in Green Hill, Heaven, and other places like Uncle Zhe Yan’s peach forest. And he would help her learn her letters and characters. And he would play the erhu for her, and maybe she would learn too and they could perform together and make mother and father smile. And he would make sure she was good, and followed the rules, because rules are very important, and he did not want her to get in trouble. 

He finished his thoughts as his mother’s feelings of love-contentment-joy were becoming a bit too overwhelming for him to handle, and so he stopped hugging her and stepped back a pace. This talent of his had only developed a few hundred years ago, and sometimes his mother forgot to regulate her emotions, especially recently. It’s why he generally preferred people who were calm and composed, their emotions tended to be more of a still pond. Most people’s emotions were like a turbulent sea, rising and falling, crashing and swirling all about, it made him feel ill sometimes. 

If Dong Hua did not appear soon Fengjiu was going to start crying at how much of an unintentionally adorable sweetheart her son was being. Of course her son would deny any such thing, and say he was not ‘sweet’ but ‘protective’, like all big brothers should be. Still, if she cried it would invariably send her poor son into a frenzy of trying to ‘fix’ her. Not that Dong Hua handled her crying much better than her son, it was endearing.

She was jolted from her thoughts by her son suddenly asking her in a slightly worried tone, “Why are you not bigger? Is my sister ill?”.

Zhe Yan had explained, but she’d not paid much attention after she heard ‘everything is going perfectly’. Something about the tilt of her womb, something else about the position of the baby, and some other details that she vaguely remembered. She had been reassured that her little daughter was actually a bit bigger than Gungun had been at the same stage, and was very healthy, despite her bump being quite small.

“Just because I do not look very big does not mean she is ill. Believe me, she is very healthy.” She reassured. Said child had only just stopped playing kick-ball with her liver an hour ago. If she were any more active Fengjiu would have concerns about the child just deciding to kick herself out of her womb, damn the waiting. 

As painful as having her poor liver bruised was, it was not anywhere near annoying as having hiccups for hours because said child decided that trying to kick her lungs was more entertaining. Gungun had been well behaved even in her belly. She wondered if karma was here to repay her with an extremely mischievous daughter. 

“Well, that is okay then.”Gungun decreed.

“I’m glad you approve.” She responded wryly. 

It was annoying, she had been fine with the idea of this happening for months, and only a few hours ago did she start worrying about him leaving to stay with her Aunt. She’d left him for longer periods before now, it was surely her little daughter playing with her emotions again. Still she could not help but ask one last time.

“You are sure you’ll be okay at Aunt and Uncle Ye Hua’s?”

“Mother,” he began, his tone calm, reassuring and slightly exasperated at having to keep repeating himself, “I will b-”

“Yes, of course you’ll be fine,” she interrupted “you have little Chenchen to play with.” She reassured herself out loud, her son wasn’t the type to be sad if his parents were not around at all times. 

“Mother, Bai Chen is not little.”, Gungun protested, less to defend his beloved cousin, and more because he was a few hundred years younger than his cousin Bai Chen. So if he agreed that his cousin was ‘little’, it would also mean he was admitting that he was little, and that would not do, at all.

“And we do not play. We have leisure time, that we spend doing leisure activities.” He insisted. 

“Free time that you spend doing fun things is playing, my dove.” She enjoyed teasing her serious little son, as sometimes he could act a bit too superior, maturity offering him knowledge and pride but not wisdom.

This was a little too much for Gungun’s pride to handle, why couldn’t his mother just accept that he was far more mature and responsible than normal children, and that he did not do such silly things as ‘play’ anymore. He nearly stomped his foot in frustration, but that would be childish, so instead his bottled frustration made his voice much louder than he intended when he replied, “It is not pl-!”

“My son is braver than I,” stated Dong Hua as he swept in to the room, resplendent in his white and cream robes; lilac coat draped over his arm, bamboo scroll in his hand. “To raise his voice in disagreement with the Queen of the Eastern Realm.”, he finished. The words were playful but there was a sliver of disapproval in her husband’s tone.

It was a minor reprimand, more a reminder than a warning, but her son, the little hero worshipper of his father that he was, wilted like a flower under the desert sun.

Gungun quickly scrambled to correct his error, “I apologise for my disrespect Mother, Father.”, He bowed to both of them and maintained the bow in penance.

Fengjiu almost rolled her eyes as she immediately moved to lift her son from his bow, “It’s my fault”, she offered to both, rejecting her son needing to apologise. Her husband looked at her, and with a nod he ceded to her judgement and forgave his son’s outburst. 

As well he should, this was her Fox Den, in this place, she ruled. With less than two months until she gave birth, she was alternately extremely forgiving and extremely un-forgiving from moment to moment as the child growing in her belly played fiddle with her emotions. It was the reason she had wanted to come here, so she did not end up inadvertently murdering some snide noblewoman at a tea party, verbally or otherwise. Heaven sometimes felt stifling, even if she did have near free reign of the place, the laws and rules were numerous.

Her poor son, to have to put up her and all her chaotic silliness, when rules and order flowed in his blood. “I should not tease you so much.” She said, kissing his forehead in apology. Absentmindedly she started ‘straightening’ her sons already perfectly placed hair, enjoying the way the candlelight played off the snowy tresses. Dong Hua moved to place the scroll and his outer robe on the nearby table. 

Mollified by the forehead kiss and fact his father was not now displeased with him, Gungun smiled at his mother and very patiently put up with her fussing with his hair.

As his father reappeared in his view a stray thought popped into Gungun’s head, and as his parents always encouraged his curiosity he wasted no time in asking, “Do you think my little sister will have white hair, or black?”. His father’s hair and his own was not ‘white’, but it was such an extremely light shade of silver, most took it to be so. ‘White’ was easier to say than ‘very pale silver, shifting into white in certain lighting conditions’.

“We don’t know little dove.” Fengjiu responded. 

“She should have black hair.” Gungun stated with self-assured confidence that ‘this was how the world should be’, and that anything else was quite unacceptable. 

“Oh? Should she?” Fengjiu said, as she flicked her eyes to shoot an accusing look at her husband, who simply stared back at her, amused. She always considered her sons dogged stubbornness and confidence to be Dong Hua’s fault, and he in turn always stated that their son got it from her. She still maintained that ‘world ordering confidence’ was not one of her many traits, even if stubbornness certainly was. 

“Yes, may I explain?” Her little son stated with all the dignity and poise his tiny frame could muster. It was not quite his father’s languid grace, but it was close enough that Fengjiu thought that her son had likely practiced copying his father, in this as with many other things. 

Dong Hua nodded and with a wave of his robed arm he gestured for his son to explain, “You may.” He stated with the same tone he used in court, humouring his son’s heartfelt attempts at mimicking him. 

Pleased, Gungun smiled and offered a solemn but sure nod of thanks to his parents, unintentionally mirroring one of his father’s mannerisms, and missing their interplay. Over the next few minutes he explained in detail all the reasons why his sister should have black hair.

She listened as her son used everything from Taoist texts relating to the Yinyang principle, Buddhist scriptures on ‘the identity of opposites’ and ‘non-duality’ and simple aesthetics to make his point. 

Fengjiu blinked in surprise at her son’s extremely eloquent explanation. In hindsight she was not sure why she expected some mundane reasoning like ‘I have white hair and so does father, so my sister should have black hair like mother’, or ‘I would be jealous’ to come from Gungun. Her scholarly son was better read at thirty thousand than she had been at seventy, and was already more powerful than she herself had been on the day she finally ascended to become a High Immortal not ten thousand years ago. 

“Eloquent and well-reasoned, my son.” Dong Hua said once Gungun had finished outlining his reasoning. 

Gungun was nearly glowing on receiving his father’s praise, his little back all straight with pride. 

However Fengjiu knew no amount of reasoned arguments were going to ensure that her daughter arrived with the ‘correct’ hair colour, but she still felt a bit guilty when she pointed this fact to her son. “Still, no one can decide your sister’s hair colour my love, we shall all just have to wait for heavens will on the matter.”

Judging by her son’s almost mutinous expression, he seemed quite put out that his little sister might not follow his carefully thought out plan of hair colour arrangements, and that something as minor as the ‘will of heaven’ was getting in the way.

“Father can change it.”, Gungun stated, with absolute, unwavering conviction. As if her husband had the power to order the universe to his liking, at a whim. As if changing fate were as simple as pouring tea!

Gungun worshipped his father like he hung the moon and stars…though even that allegory was possibly not doing justice to some of her husband’s more legendary feats. Still she could sense her son was likely about to receive a long lecture from Dong Hua on the nature of heaven and fate, and how one should never trivialise it. As he thought this was a bit hypocritical of him, she quickly intervened to spare her son.

“How about you go and make sure you have all your things packed, and your father and I will think about it.” She said, in a way that made it clear it was not a suggestion. 

“I will do so.” Gungun agreed, because he did love making sure everything was in it’s right place. But also because he realised his mother was getting him out of some trouble, though he did not know what trouble he was avoiding. Still, he was not going to linger. “Mother, Father.” he bowed politely to both of them before he left the room. 

Fengjiu saw her husband gaze at their son’s retreating back with such pride and contentment, that her heart nearly burst with love for both of them. Or perhaps that was the pregnancy again. Who really knew these days? Still, who but her has ever had such a perfect family, such joy? And she had been blessed with another child after nearly thirty thousand years of hoping. She had always wanted two children, it was the perfect number. 

She moved to kiss her husband, and thank him for existing, loving her and providing her with her life’s joy, when he turned to her and spoke before she could. 

“Will we now?” Dong Hua asked her, playful. 

“Will we what?” She asked for clarification, as her thoughts were still upon her husband’s tender hearted pride as he looked at their son.

“Think about challenging the will of heaven, and change fate on a whim?” He asked as he moved to embrace her.

“We’ve done it before.” She pointed out, she took a moment to close her eyes and simply enjoy being in her husband’s arms, would she ever get tired of it? She thought not. 

“I would not call our love a mere whim, but to my glorious wife, perhaps this lowly husband is just that.” He lamented, his tone one of excessive humility. 

Self-deprecation was not his strong suit, “Indeed, you were a passing fancy; It took less effort to catch you, than catching a butterfly.” She stated with an air of supreme indifference. A mighty feat considering how much effort it was taking to keep her breathing even. Dong Hua was so close she could feel the heat of his skin, smell the sandalwood and red spider lilies that made up his scent, and see the flecks of silver shot through his dark eyes like stars.

“And a butterfly might be more rewarding, than this lowly husband I have caught.”, It was a challenge, bold and defiant. 

“A butterfly is it?”, He stated, before proceeding to answer her challenge with single-minded focus. 

He kissed her then, many times. But they were fleeting and delicate; landing indiscriminately, on her lips, nose, cheek, jaw and neck, not even her brows or eyelids escaped the fluttering kisses. None landed with more pressure than a rose petal; it was maddening and he knew it.

Then it happened, the tip of his tongue, warm and sensual darted on her neck for half a second. It undid her. 

“You villain.” She gasped. 

Dong Hua laughed, a throaty hum of victory, “Who has ever heard of a villainous butterfly?” He queried softly, “I am but a simple creature, who saw afar a vision more beautiful than any flower, who smelled sweeter than any nectar. What is a little butterfly to do, when it has the chance to taste divinity?”, He finished, pinning her with an innocent look, but on him , itdid not look innocent at all.

“Have mercy.” She nearly mewled. There was certainly no time to enjoy the more physical privileges afforded to wedded couples before they had to leave. And so this was simply Dong Hua extolling in the glory of victory and enjoying the act of amorously tormenting his poor, pregnant spouse. 

The door was shut, but not locked.

“Mercy? Who ever heard of a merciful butterfly?” He breathed on her skin and began nibbling her neck.

He surely would not continue, Gungun would not be gone for much longer. Surely Dong Hua would not be so shameless as to subject their son to seeing his parents locked in an amorous embrace, just to win this tiny contest of wills. Oh, but he would, she had never known him to back down from a challenge, and she had certainly issued hers boldly enough. 

“Door,” She breathed out quickly before a nip at her collarbone caused her to inhale sharply in pleasure.

“Son..” She managed, in a last ditch attempt to use her son as a defence against Dong Hua’s single-minded pursuit of victory. This way she could still claim that he did not win, as they simply ran out of time, and she did not capitulate. 

The last hope of her calling a stalemate rather than a full surrender was when she saw her husband flick his eyes to the door. A moment later she heard the door close and lock, and saw the faint shimmer of a barrier rising across the doorway, blocking sight, sound and matter from moving past it.

Only her husband, so assured of his own place in the universe would ever be so shameless as to deliver their son late for his lessons with likely no better excuse than ‘I was delayed’, which would all but cement to the world exactly what had delayed him. For what else was there in the Fox Den to delay him but her? Who else would he allow to delay him but her? Unfortunately she cared more about her aunt’s continuing good view of her, than winning this minor contest of wills, and Dong Hua well knew it. 

“Oh! Alright, you win, you unrepentant scoundrel!” She admitted defeat.

He looked almost boyish then, with his soft grin threatening to turn into a prideful smirk at his victory. It was endearing, and she fell in love with him all the more. But it was also maddening, and she felt the need to tug his hair to commiserate herself on her loss, so she did.

“A butterfly scoundrel?” Dong Hua’s face was slanted at an angle, due to the captured tress of his hair that she was tugging on it gently.

She nearly groaned, he would not stop until she had capitulated completely, no half-victories were acceptable to the previous master of the universe. 

“You are slightly higher in my esteem than a butterfly.” She allowed.

“Only slightly?” Here he angled his face more to the side in query, lessening the pull on his hair, but it also brought his mouth closer to hers once more. A sly and delightful threat that he could resume his devilish exploratory campaign across her skin at a moment’s notice, ever the general. 

She tugged at his hair again and managed to keep her composure as she responded, “Barely above.”

“I suppose I shall have to content myself with my rise in status, and hope I may gain further victories.” He gave her a chaste kiss on the lips and rose, dispelling the barrier as he did so. 

Dong Hua’s stately grace reminded her that she was not so graceful at the moment. But as her husband had just clearly demonstrated that he still found her attractive, and still very much wanted her, she was not at all bothered, he had always been more elegant than her.

Still, even though he had claimed complete victory in this encounter, she could not help but tease him, call her petty. “Perhaps I should be grateful that you were a butterfly after all. For who has ever heard of the great Dong Hua Dijun being merciful?” She mused aloud, tapping her finger on her chin in exaggerated contemplation. 

It seemed his own fire rose too high for control with his teasing of her, and her small dart of challenge was not something he wished to back down on. She thought this because the look he sent her was filled with smouldering promise. He moved swiftly toward her, languid movements now were purposeful, predatory and filled with delightful promise. 

She let loose a tiny giggle of girlish excitement at having provoked such a response, and wondered what price he would extract from her. She had always been happy to pay, for such tolls were always pleasurable.

There was a knock at the door, and their son’s voice followed a few seconds later, muffled by wood “Mother? Father?”

Dong Hua did not seem surprised by the interruption, but nor did it seem like he quite expected it either. Were her husband a lesser man, she supposed they might have groaned in frustration, at being thwarted in such activities. But Dong Hua merely smiled, bent down and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

“I admit defeat.” He whispered as their lips parted. She watched as he picked up the coat and scroll he had discarded earlier. 

Silently she thanks her beloved son for allowing her to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. None of the circumstances were planned by her at all, it was all glorious coincidence, but she will happily take the credit. 

“Come.”, Dong Hua stated, and half a second later her small white haired doveling appeared around the corner. 

Gungun bowed and greeted them both before he said, “Migu asked me to say that your meal with be ready soon, and the medicinal tea Zhe Yan sent is brewing now.” There was a slight tinge of confusion in his tone, he could not quite understand why Migu had not come and delivered this information himself, it was a simple matter to knock.

Fengjiu blushed slightly as she realised that Migu had likely tried to deliver the message himself, but the barrier Dong Hua had placed would have stopped him from doing so. Still, she was a Queen of Green Hill, and she rallied her dignity and managed to give the outward appearance of serenity.

“Thank you dove, I’d best go to the main chamber to eat it.” As she rose and moved toward the door, but turned to look at her husband as he began to speak. 

“Gungun and I will come say our farewells before you eat, else we will be late, and what would Bai Qian think of us then?” His amusement at teasing her glimmered in his eyes. He knew why Fengjiu had surrendered to him, and he was not above teasing her about it.

Fengjiu sent her evil husband a look, but he merely twitched that quick little self-satisfied smile, utterly unrepentant. She had a mind to tell him that there was a difference between ‘dignified ease’ and ‘pure shamelessness’.

Gungun, completely oblivious to his parents interplay, nodded in agreement to his father’s statement, being late was disrespectful after all.

Moments later all three of them were in the main chamber of the Fox Den, and she was seeing them off. Dong Hua she would see in a few days, but Gungun would be visiting once a week until the baby arrived. 

“I love you little dove, and I will see you soon.” She informed as she hugged her son. 

“I will visit in only a week mother.” He stated, uncomfortable. It was not that he was embarrassed or uncomfortable at the words his mother was saying. It’s just that so close, with his mother hugging him and her so emotional with the pregnancy, he could feel the love she held for him. It felt like safety and comfort, a wave of sudden sunshine on a cold day. But there was so much of it, the amount and strength of it was overwhelming, unbearable, he felt suffocated. He almost wiggled away in desperation, but then mercifully his mother kissed him on the cheek and released him. 

“Be good.” She half asked, half warned.

“Mother I am-”, he began.

“Almost always good, I know.” Fengjiu finished for him, grinning.

He could not refute that, no one was perfect after all. But did she have to keep reminding him? 

He watched as his mother gave father a particularly long goodbye kiss, and whispered something in his ear that made him smile slightly in response. Gungun thought that his father being the last person to make mother happy before they left was not fair. Father would see mother sooner than he did after all. 

“Mother?” He asked for her attention.

“Yes dove?” Came the somewhat surprised reply. 

“I love you too.” He said, responding to the declaration of love she had given while hugging him. He watched as his mother smiled back, the love she felt for him was palpable, but even the short meter distance between them meant he was not overwhelmed with the intensity. It made him smile at her too, because he liked that it was so easy to make his mother happy, with such a little thing. He waved quickly in parting before he took his father’s hand and they disappeared in a white mist. 

It was only after they left that Fengjiu realised that Gungun had not promised to behave when she had asked, he had very neatly sidestepped it by being suitably adorable and distracting her. 

That sneaky little fox.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Violence, mild gore, blood, swearing, character death_

Warnings: Violence, mild gore, blood, swearing, character death.  
Fengjiu doubted Gungun would be suicidal enough to get into trouble when Dong Hua was nearby and she was nowhere close to help get him out of it, or at least mitigate.

“Little Hi-, Ah I mean my queen, your meal and medicine is ready.” 

She was sure he’d be rubbing the back of his head awkwardly at his slip of the tongue if he hadn’t been carrying the tray. Secretly, she enjoyed that Migu still thought of her as ‘little highness’, it was endearing. 

Gungun had vehemently disliked being referred to as ‘little highness’ and ten thousand years ago started to ask everyone to call him ‘highness’. He thought himself much too old and mature to be referred as such. Little did he realise that his request to be referred to in a more adult manner only made it more obvious how young he was. But still, everyone indulged him and did not appellate ‘little’ onto his title. 

Migu came over to place the meal and medicine on the table; she thanked him and moved to start eating. But there was something very strange about this scene; she paused midway from removing the soup lid. It took her a few moments to figure out and she nearly dropped the lid in surprise once she did.

“Since when did you go anywhere near a cooking fire?” 

“Ah, Dijun made this for me, the fire does not burn me now.” Migu replied as he took something off from around his neck.

She put the soup lid down and took the proffered pendant.

It was grey, cool to the touch and lighter than she expected. She looked more closely and realised it was a leaf from one of Migu’s branches, turned into stone. Well, almost stone, she saw that the veins on the leaf were red and glowing ever so softly, like banked coals. She rubbed her thumb over the veins, half expecting heat, but it was as cold as the rest of the leaf. Curious she used her power to probe the leaf. She was no artificer, and she could only tell that it was complex, a confusing jumble of spells, intent and power she could not begin to make sense of.

What she did feel was its purpose, and it was as Migu said, it protected against flame and heat, but was so powerful that it likely rendered the wearer immune to all forms of flame, including ones produced by extremely powerful divine beings. She thought it was a bit scandalous that it was being used to protect against mundane cooking flames. 

Was this what Dong Hua had been doing while she had been spending time with Gungun? 

Only he would create an extremely powerful artefact for the sole purpose of making sure she was not inconvenienced for a few days. As if having to cook or brew her own tea even if she did not feel like it was worth such a fuss. But he had fussed, and she loved him for his thoughtfulness, even if Migu was now carrying something that lesser clans would wage war to obtain.

“It’s very pretty” She said, as she handed the pendant back to Migu, who reclaimed it with a happy smile, quickly tucking it back into his robe. Dong Hua had likely told him to keep it hidden; good. She’d be put out if it actually started a war.

“After I’ve eaten, could you bring me any missives I’ve missed since last week?” She asked as she picked up the spoon to begin eating. 

“Of course! Afterwards I was thinking of going to the market to pick up ingredients to try and make cakes!” Migu declared, not quite able to contain his glee that he did not have to fear fire anymore.

“Do you even know how to bake?” She asked, sceptical.

“No,” he replied with a cheerful grin, “but I am happy to try.” 

“You might be immune to fire now, but the Fox Den isn’t. I’ll come and supervise after I’ve read the missives.” She stated.

“Then I will go to the market now, if that’s acceptable?” He asked. 

“Of course! Shoo Shoo!” She used her spoon to motion him off, and then happily started to eat the now pleasantly warm soup once he had left.

She had the feeling that it was going to be hard to pull Migu away from the cooking fire. Ah well, if she gained a bit more weight in the next few days she could always blame it on the baby. 

So long as the Fox Den did not turn into the Fire Den. 

The next morning she was going to supervise breakfast, but Migu seemed a bit hurt that she did not trust him, so she left him to it. He was handling the fire perfectly, and in any case there was not much in the Fox Den that could realistically catch fire. After breakfast, she finished off the last of the red bean cakes they’d made the night before, and answered the remaining missives. 

After that was done, and with nothing pressing to do, she decided to write to her father and ask if he and mother wanted to visit. She made it sound like she would be unavailable until after Dong Hua was to return three days from now. It never hurt to be careful. Both her parent’s respected and loved Dong Hua now, the earlier animosity surrounding the turbulent start their to the relationship had vanished ages ago. But they were still her parents, and they would likely disapprove if they came to find out she’d been ‘abandoned’, while pregnant no less. 

Letter in hand she found Migu replacing the used candles from last night with fresh ones.

“Migu, could you send this to my father when you get a moment?”

“Oh, of course, I’ll do it right away!"

“There’s no rush, it’s not urgent”. 

The familiar feeling of living in the Fox Den, with just Migu around for the most part was bringing forward so many memories. When she’d visited Green Hill in the past, it was almost always for a serious or time critical matter that needed her attention. She rarely had the time to just wander and walk around like used to, but now she had the time, and the urge was strong. 

It felt strange to not have her bells jingling at her ankle, but the past month had made her ankles swell uncomfortably. She was not prepared to alter the strings on the bell so she kept them safe on her dressing table. She always tapped it with her finger in the morning to make it jingle as an apology for not wearing them. 

“I’m going for a walk, I’ll be back before evening,” she saw Migu open his mouth to ask where she’d be, and she continued before he could ask, “I’ll be staying in Green Hill, to the south and elsewhere, and maybe I’ll visit Zhe Yan and Uncle Bai Zhen later in the afternoon.” She mused.

“Of course, I’ll have dinner prepared for when your back.” Migu stated with far more excitement than she’d ever expected. At this rate, she might just have a rival in the kitchen in a few hundred years at this rate. 

“You can mirror me if any urgent matters arise.” Not that crisis’ happened regularly in the Eastern Realm of Green Hill. If she’d been given the rule of any other area of green hill she would not have been able to live in Taichen Palace.

Well except maybe her Uncle Bai Zhen’s Northern Realm, which aside from Li Yuan’s uprising thirty thousand years ago, had never had any issues or crises. It meant her Uncle was free to lounge about in Zhe Yan’s peach forest as much as he liked without it being a detriment to the land he ruled. 

The mirrors had allowed Migu to contact her if an urgent message or supplicant issue that needed her to be present. She had another mirror she always carried that connected to one Dong Hua also carried. But as they were rarely apart for any length of time, it was rarely used. 

With that she teleported to the Southern Realm to stretch her legs. Being able to teleport was surely the best perk that came from her ascension to high immortal.

A moment later she appeared in the Southern Realm where her uncle Bai Jun ruled. She should go and say hello to him and little Mei. But while little Mei was cute -if a bit bossy- her First Uncle was just a bit…boring. Plus, she’d seen them just a few days ago with Gungun, so she felt entitled to this unannounced jaunt.

She arrived at her favourite waterfall in all of the Kingdom of Green Hill. It was not massive, as far as waterfalls went, but she loved how it nestled into the mountain. The air was warm but the water was cold as the water rushed down from the high frozen peaks. Many colourful birds were perched on branches, watching and chirping. 

West of the mountains was as verdant as anywhere else in Green Hill. But east of the mountains it quickly became a desert as the mountains blocked moisture from falling on the other side. She loved the duality of it, to be able to travel only a few miles and be in a desert from this tropical paradise. She let out a sigh of contentment as she sat by the waterfall and happily let her mind wander in memories.

She remembered bringing Dong Hua here when she was showing him her favourite places growing up. She’d teased and boasted about how he had only a single waterfall in Taichen Palace, while she had many to enjoy in Green Hill. 

One day Dong Hua had taken her to one of the least used garden areas in Taichen and she found it had changed dramatically. Where once there had been a slow meandering river, there was now a rather impressive waterfall. It was much larger than the one in his garden quarters, it’s pool could fit five swimmers comfortably. 

It quickly became her favourite place in Taichen Palace. Soon enough everyone knew if they could not find her in the main halls, courtyards, or the lotus pool they would find her leaning against her tree in the waterfall garden.

There were trees planted around the field, each of them offered a different and perfect view of the fall. Her favourite was one of the furthest from the fall, sat on a small mound. It was not flat enough for a picnic, but it was perfect for two people to sit and enjoy the scenery. Dong Hua often came to join her when they were both free. Fengjiu blushed as she remembered a night not long past where Dong Hua had joined her for a late night swim. The baby growing inside her now had very likely been conceived that night.

The flame of her cheeks brought her back to the present. She realised she’d been sitting and reminiscing for a few hours, and it was mid-afternoon already. She stretched and rose, then wondered where to go next. She wanted to go to the desert only a few miles east, but she had no water containers, and could not be bothered to go back to the Fox Den quite yet.

She was still pondering when she looked up and saw the snow shining brightly on the mountain. Another memory stirred, of a snow covered birch forest, and a snowball fight. Well, it wasn’t much of a fight. If she remembered correctly she’d thrown a single snowball at Dong Hua and had spent the next hour dashing around the place giggling like a loon as he rained snowy hell upon her. She’d been thankful for the many birch trees that were available to hide behind.

It was early summer, so there would be no snow now, but she decided to revisit it anyway. In her summer dress she wasn’t quite dressed for snow, and her baby daughter might start kicking if she got too cold. Destination decided Fengjiu spent another moment stretching before she teleported to the West Realm of Green Hill.   
\---------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ghost Realm, eastern border, woods.

Wei Gang was irritated. The man he’d sent to scout the forest to ensure the border was clear for crossing came back with frustrating, if interesting news. The border was clear to cross, save for a single woman walking in the woods on the Green Hill side. Not one to take chances he took four others with him to double check the information. 

Sure enough, there was a beautiful woman, some celestial sort by the look of her clothing. She was in the way of where he’d wanted to cross the border. There had been a reason the traitors had chosen this path. It was secluded and the border markings were unclear.

“Instead of avoiding her, why don’t we take her?” Came the glee-tinged suggestion from Ju Li. She was one of only three women in his merry band, and by far the most bloodthirsty.

“Our lord might overlook the fact the traitors were from our band if we bring him such a pretty plaything.” Was the response from the scout, Wei Gang had never bothered to remember his name.

“So long as we bring him the traitors’ heads too, that’s what we are here for.” Wei Gang reminded, aware that the traitors were only a few miles over the border, quick to capture, but more risky the further they moved into Green Hill territory.

“I ain’t comfy fightin’ out’a our land.” That was a surprisingly skittish, but unsurprisingly dumb statement from Cang Fu. 

Ju Li saved him from having to respond. “It’s not Kunlun or Heaven, you idiot.” Came her vitriolic statement.

Cang Fu looked ready to strike her, and he really could not be bothered to deal with them fighting again.

“There is nothing in Green Hill that suppresses magic, just like the Four Seas.” He said, inserting himself back into the conversation.

“That means she cn’ use magic too.” Cang Fu replied. 

“They’ll be twenty of us, and one pregnant woman. Don’t be such a fucking coward.”Ju Li responded scathingly before he had the a chance to respond. One of her grandparents had been of the mermen tribe, and she was always happy to see a celestial suffer.

He’d had enough of their arguing. “Shut up. The more you talk, the further away the traitors get. We’ll capture her, take five traitor heads and be home before nightfall.” He turned to the scout, “Go and get everyone else.” 

The scout nodded, took the shape of a bird and left. 

“If we capture her, our excuse of being refugees if we’re caught goes out the window.” Ju Li pointed out.

“Thought Green ‘ill don’ have n’ army, who’s goin’ to catch us?” It was a fair point, and a surprisingly smart observation from Cang Fu.

Ju Li shrugged and started studying her long knives, pointedly ignoring Cang Fu. 

“Ready your weapons, Ju Li, you’ll be using your barrier spell with the others, we’re going as soon as the others get here.” He ordered. 

“Why?” Ju Li asked with her customary acerbity. 

He could understand her confusion; she was one of the best fighter in the group.

“Because if your blades give her even a papercut she’ll die. Or are we not capturing her after all?” he responded with his tone as saccharinely sweet as he could manage.

Ju Li did not say anything, but she pointedly sheathed her blades.   
\---------------------------------------------------------------

Fengjiu was enjoying her walk in the woods, happily reminiscing. It was early evening now, and the sun was blushing red as it sank into the east. The light hit the white bark of the birch trees that surrounded her, making them look like pillars of flame. She should go and visit the Peach Forest before she headed back to the Fox Den, she had a sudden craving for peach jam.

The only warning she had that something was wrong was the sudden complete silence from the wind and birds around her. Black clad figures were suddenly rushing from all directions. She was surrounded.

They were Ghost Tribe members, and certainly did not look like refugees, unless refugees were now far more militant looking than she remembered. How dare they trespass in Green Hill?

“What are yo-” She did not have time to finish her demand for an explanation, as she had to dodge a sudden binding spell. Hyperaware of her pregnant state Fengjiu immediately went to teleport away only to realise that it was not working, there was a barrier preventing it. 

Quickly she raised her hand and dispelled the barrier, only to realise there was more than a single barrier active. 

She did not have the time to stand and break them, as five ghosts rushed toward her.

“You don’t wan-” She tried to warn them against doing…whatever it was they were doing, trying to capture her most likely. Else they would have just attempted to kill her.

She deflected a binding spell with her magic, and jumped away from another.

Well then.

She summoned her sword, the Taozhu and got to work teaching the ghosts why you should never try to capture a Nine Tailed Fox.

Especially not a pregnant one.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------

To say Wei Gang was surprised when the woman summoned a sword and proceeded to use the blade and magic to kill five of his was an understatement. His resolve to capture her increased as he realised she to be someone extremely important if she had such skill.

He had always thought better than he fought. Using their clan’s private tongue so the woman would not understand, he quickly yelled out his orders.

“Push her to the Ghost Realm! Pressure her from the front; leave the back open for her to retreat! And keep those barriers on her!” Her power would be negated as soon as she entered the Ghost Realm, and they’d capture her easily in there. What a prize. He might not even need to bring the traitors heads to his lord at this rate.

He quickly changed his mind when five more of his ghost tribesmen died when they went to pressure her to fall back. Always one to balance risk and reward, it was now too dangerous to continue trying to capture the woman. 

His decision to kill and not capture was not quick enough to save Cang Fu as the woman’s sword sliced through the tall ghost’s spear and cut him near clean in half. 

“Just kill her! Push her back and kill her!” He shouted as he readied his own blade, just in case she came for him.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------

She was able to dodge a spell fired from the far right in such a way that it hit one of the ghosts attempting to pressure her back-left position. She immediately spun and slashed spell-frozen ghost’s throat, the blade that had been poised to strike her arm fell to the floor as the unlucky woman dissipated. 

Was that her eleventh kill, or twelfth?

The half second of breathing space the death brought her to try and teleport again, but it seemed they were reapplying the barriers when she moved.

Aside from the barriers her assailants seemed relatively uncoordinated. Though they were still trying to capture rather than kill her, which was giving her a massive advantage. They were also panicking slightly, if all the haphazard spells being thrown around was any indication. Likely not expecting the prey to become the predator. 

Still she also had her own worries; she was not as focused on the fight as she could be. She was using every spare moment she bought herself with each kill to try and teleport, rather than using those moments to pressure her opponents.

She realised her mistake once she used her magic to help her jump back and gain space, only to realise with sudden horror that she’d been pushed into the Ghost Realm as she felt her power supressed. Her lack of pressure on her enemies had meant they had pressured her back in turn, and now she would not be able to use magic or teleport unless she crossed back into Green Hill. She was now in a rocky plain, and there were no trees she could use to help stagger their advance and how many she fought at once.

She heard something shouted by the short haired man she assumed was the leader, though she could not understand what he was saying. She soon got the message as binding spells were replaced with swords rushing at her with killing intent. 

She could no longer use magic to create arcs of energy to kill multiple enemies at the same time, so she switched her tactics. As one of the ghosts charged her with a spear she dodged it by a hairsbreadth, while pulling his arm and body to the right. Half a second later she knew it had paid off as a wet gurgle issued from behind her, the spear had found it’s mark in the unlucky ghost that had attempted to strike her from behind. She quickly spun in a half circle, blade high and killed the spear-wielder by removing his head. 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the ghosts that had been putting up the barriers were now moving quickly toward her. Ah, of course, why did they need barriers now that she could not use magic anyway?

She needed to finish off the ghost in front of her quickly, before the others arrived. Unfortunately for her this one was noticeably better than most of the others. it was a number of traded blows, parries and thrusts before she landed a hit.

In her haste the ghost managed to get a shallow cut on her arm, but she’d sliced his clean off in the same moment and he fell to the floor grasping at his new stump in agony. She was moving to finish him off when a sudden blur on from her left caused her to turn, step back and parry in an unconscious action. 

She was thankful for the reflex action, her blade had blocked a knife, and her back step had caused the other knife to miss her torso. She quickly made a promise to never complain about sword drills to Dong Hua ever again. But then she had no time to think as the ghost woman in front of her attacked her in a burst of flurried movement.

The rapid pace of her retreat meant that the other two ghosts that had come down with the woman were stuck trying to keep up and looking for opportunities to strike. In the split seconds she gained by retreating Fengjiu had kept an eye on the rest of her enemies, and noticed that the leader was not far away now on her right. 

As she stutter stepped back once more Fengjiu realised that she was getting used to the rapid attacks from her opponent. And was beginning to recognise the patterns of attack the woman was using. One of them in particular involved a short double thrust that left her open to a counter attack, or it would if the woman was not so damn fast with those blades.

But she had an idea. Now more used to the attack patterns it was easier to deflect the blows, and she deliberately did not retreat as quickly as before. This allowed the two ghosts that had been following her to finally gain a good position behind her to attack from. One of them saw the seeming opening to attack and took it. The timing could not have been better.

As the ghost behind her went for a downward swing she moved, and used the momentum of the swing to pull the man forward as she stepped to the side. She’d pulled him into the woman’s forward double thrust, both blades lodged themselves deep into the man’s ribcage.

She was now standing to the side of both of the ghosts and she had only a second to move before the man dissipated. Fengjiu had no time to aim her swing as she saw the man return to nothing, Taozhu flew wildly, but it struck true. The awkward angle meant she did not sever the woman’s leg, but the tendon was surely cut.

She moved out of knife range as the woman screamed in pain and moved a hand to cover the bleeding wound.

She used the second of space to take stock of where her enemies were.

The woman was three yards away, but hamstrung and unable to fight.

There was a single man less than ten yards away, it would take a second or two for him to close the gap and engage her. She quickly flicked her eyes around the battlefield and took stock of everyone else. 

The man whose arm she had cut off earlier had returned. But he was seventy yards away, and not approaching. The short haired leader was around thirty yards away, she could likely finish off the man in front of her before he reached her position, even if he started running now. 

The analysis had taken her only a second, she quickly moved toward the closest threat ten yards away.

And paused as the man she had been moving toward dropped his sword.

What was he doing?

The ghost was now kneeling on the ground.

Wait, was he really surrendering? Really?

There was a sudden sharp pain, and her left leg nearly gave way. 

The woman had crawled close enough with one knife in hand to get a decent cut to her left calf. Fengjiu saw from the corner of her eye the leader running to take advantage, but he was just in her line of vision.

Angry Fengjiu moved and kicked the knife from the woman’s hand, wincing as it flew and grazed her right ankle. Off balance from her awkward spin and wounded calf, her sword plunged into the woman’s shoulder, rather than her heart.

Aware the leader was approaching and ready for his attack Fengjiu quickly removed Taozhu from the woman’s shoulder, earning her another scream. She used that momentum to deflect the rushed overhead swing, pushing his sword to the side and left his torso wide open. Her own sword was only an inch away from his sternum and she used both hands to shove Taozhu straight through him.

He died quickly and she stepped through where he had been a moment before, stepping on the clothes and past the sword that were all that remained. She wanted to put as much distance between her and the woman behind her as possible, even without a weapon and unable to walk, an enemy was still dangerous. She was exhausted, and taking massive gasps of air to try and stabilise herself, the people that said they battled for days on end were obviously lying. Or maybe she’d not be so tired if she was not breathing for two. 

Her move away from the woman meant she was now walking somewhat clumsily toward the man who had seemingly surrendered. She must have made an impression, because a second later he turned into a bird and flew off, sword still on the ground where he had placed it. 

Fengjiu had almost forgotten that unlike her own, the ghost tribe’s powers were not supressed here. She saw the one armed man she’d fought earlier still hovering in the distance, when she turned to look at him he raised his arms in surrender. Well, with one arm being a stump below the elbow, it looked more like he was waving. It was an amusing sight, and she managed some semblance of a smile at the silliness of it. He turned, and started running.

She saw that the woman crawled away in the few seconds of time that had passed. The woman was laying a ways off, alive and attempting to stem the bleeding at her shoulder and leg simultaneously. Fengjiu started to move toward the woman to finish her off, but then the woman did something odd. She smiled, and it was a cruel and strangely victorious smile. Fengjiu was still moving toward the woman when she suddenly transformed into a bird. She watched as the woman haphazardly took to the sky, flying far in to the Ghost Realm, blood dripping as she flew. 

With no immediate danger to worry about Fengjiu became aware of her daughter’s frantic movements. Her child was kicking and twitching in a way she had never felt before, clearly distressed. She moved a hand to her belly to check what was wrong.

The same hand had protected her belly as a moment later she found herself lying on the floor. Taozhu was still gripped tightly in her other hand, but in a thankful stroke of luck and she had not skewered herself on it. She’d fallen because she could not feel her legs. She managed to sit up enough to move the skirt of her dress to bare them.

Green tinged black veins greeted her. In strange humour, she thought they looked like very ominous noodles. She had taken a cut to her left calf during the fight, but it appeared when she had kicked the knife from the woman’s hand it had sliced her right ankle, that blade had clearly been poisoned. No wonder she had been able to move to well even with a gash in her calf and a cut on her ankle, the poison had quickly numbed the pain.

She had been fighting; her heart had been beating frantically, pushing the poisoned blood around her body, directly into her daughter. That was why her daughter was so distressed, she was dying, her baby was dying. 

Panic struck her at the thought, and with Taozhu still held tightly in her hand she scrambled to try and pull herself to safety with her arms. It was less than one hundred yards and she would be out of the Ghost Realm, regain her magic and contact Dong Hua with the copper mirror.

She could do it.

Long moments of harsh struggle later, she had barely made it three yards before she collapsed in exhaustion. As she lay motionless, panting heavily into the emerald grass, she realised that she could not feel her daughter moving in her belly any more.

She would die here. She was in fact already dead, if she thought about it. Even if Zhe Yan appeared over the mountain side at this moment, he would not be able to reverse the poisons course quickly enough to save her.

That thought should have terrified her, but she was strangely calm and filled with clarity of purpose.

She would die, but her daughter would not. She would not!

She had seen the act performed a few times in the human world. The mothers there would die frequently during childbirth, and the womb was opened to see if the child could be saved. Once she had even witnessed a mother beg the doctor to save the child, even though it meant cutting the child from her living womb, guaranteeing her death. She knew the mechanics of that desperate act.

She moved as fast as her limbs allowed. Taozhu moved swiftly and she sliced her dress, exposing her belly to the blade. With her spare hand she felt where the baby was positioned within her, and readied the blade in the other. When she started to carefully cut into her belly, she was relieved that she could feel the pain of it, if dimly, it mean the poison had not spread too deeply in her upper half yet.

The blood coming from the cut was darker than she expected, and tinged the same black-green sheen as the poison. She moved as quickly and carefully as she could, she did not want to cut her baby. Skin, fat and muscle parted swiftly, she could not see her womb from where she was sitting, so she used her hands to guide the blade, the blood made everything slippery. But there was no pain anymore, and she saw the poisonous veins creeping past her bellybutton. She dropped Taozhu and used both ands to try and free her baby. 

At last she managed to grasp a tiny arm near the shoulder and pulled the child from her womb. She let loose a tiny sob of relief that the task was done, but it lasted only a moment. Half the cord her daughter was attached to was black. She realised her baby was not crying, after a moment of panicked checking l her daughter was breathing. Tiny stuttering breaths, but she was alive. 

She picked up the Taozhu sword from where she had dropped it, and cut a thin strip from her dress. She tied it tightly around the cord close to the child, picked up the sword and cut it. She placed her daughter against her chest and wrapped her as securely as she could, using some of the many strips of her dress to do so.

Her daughter as safe as she could be, she switched her priority to herself. Looking down she saw the poison had climbed under her dress, beyond her sight. She could feel her shoulders and arms becoming numb. Quickly she moved her dress back over her open belly, and used another strip to bind it as best she could.

She was dying, but at least she might last a minute longer this way, and no one would need to see the red ruin she’d made of herself. That was her, always making such a mess of things, Dong Hua and Gungun were the tidy ones.

Only very powerful gods could manifest magic and divine energy in the Ghost Realm, and she was not one of those. But she was a nine tailed fox, and she had a magic of her own. If she could make it across the border a hundred yards away, she could use the copper mirror to contact Dong Hua. 

With numb hands she claimed the Taozhu sword for what was likely the last time. The energy of the Ghost Realm was oppressive. It should not have been possible for her to manifest her tails, she was no High God. But with determination born of pure need, she willed it. Every fabric of her being was focused on this one goal, and with nothing to lose she threw her very soul to the purpose.

A familiar feeling enveloped her, and with relief she realised she had managed it.

She had only manifested a single tail, but that was all she needed.

Due to the numbness overtaking her arms, she could not apply the swift hard pressure needed to neatly sever it. It was the work of a few seconds before she felt the sword meet air, and saw her tail drop to the ground. There was none of the blinding agony that she expected from the action. Oh, of course not, the poison.

Her mind was already slowing.

There was no time. 

Taozhu fell from her numbing fingers, and she moved to clumsily grasp the severed tail lying next to it. She looked down, relieved that her other hand was still helping to support her little daughter in the folds of her dress, she could barely sense them now.

Her mind was muddled, and she had no clear picture in mind of what she wanted to create, but she had a goal. She never thought she’d need to use the great power of one of her tails to travel less than a hundred yards. But life was strange like that, and death too she supposed. 

Her tail was more resting on her hand now than being gripped, as she lost the last vestiges of feeling in her fingers. Still, she focused on her tail, and the goal she had in mind and pushed the thought forward into the red furred appendage. She hardly noticed as she fell backwards, having lost most of the sense of her own body. 

But she saw the bright flash of light from her hand expanding into incandescence, and closed her eyes against it. Moments later the light she saw through her eyelids had dimmed, and she opened them to a strange sight.

Her mind was sluggish and it took her a few seconds to recognise what she was seeing. A wheel was spinning in front of her eyes, and it looked to be made of golden flame, but she could not feel any heat. Belatedly she realised that she was lying on the bed of a chariot. She attempted to move her head to see if anything was pulling it, but she could not manage it.

She wondered if it was a horse or maybe a fox, but who had ever seen a golden horse? She imagined Hao De would ride one if it existed, she attempted to laugh at the strange image, but no sound came. Or maybe she did not hear it, everything sounded far away now. She prayed that her daughter would cry louder, so she could know she still was alive. The sky was getting dark despite the chariots flame, or was it just her eyesight dimming? Either way the darkness felt calming.

And welcoming.

If she could move, she would have jolted awake as the familiar feel of her divine power returned, instead she merely returned to consciousness. The task she had created the chariot for was complete and she was lowered to the floor as it slowly turned back into her tail. It might have fallen behind her, or perhaps she was lying on it, she could not feel anything anymore. She had only a pitiful amount of power left, but there was just enough to summon the mirror. The mirror rested under her cheek, and she focused her thought on it and sprang to life with the familiar teal glow.

She spoke Dong Hua’s name, or hoped she did, she could no longer feel her face to tell if it had made the movements.

Everything was so tiring; she closed her eyes for a moment.

She woke, or did she? She must have slept, because her head was full of strange thoughts, they floated by, like dreams. Perhaps she had dreamt Dong Hua’s voice, for from the corner of her eye she saw that the mirror was dark. It took her a moment to realise it was dark because there was blood on it, black blood, hers.

She didn’t think she’d had any more to lose. 

A jumble of strange thoughts flitted past quickly now, like swift little birds; she could not focus on one before another caught her attention.

By now Migu had likely sent the letter she’d written to her parents. What a waste of paper, the poor tree died for nothing.

Ah, not nothing. Her parents would come for her funeral, of course. Who knew she’d written a letter of invitation to her own funeral. That was quite funny. 

Oh! She’d better get her bells back. 

It was Gungun’s birthday next month, she hoped he liked the calligraphy brush she’d made him, the silver filigree had been hard to get right.

She’d be buried in the Sea of Innocence. She’d said to Dong Hua that it was better to be in the place meant for sadness, than ruin some happy place.

Dong Hua… she’d never be able to make him steamed fish again.

She wondered if her daughter would be good at cooking without her there to teach her.

Her thoughts were slowing, and she could not remember what she’d thought about a moment ago.

Had she closed that book she was reading in Taichen Palace before she’d left? 

Everything was silent now, she could not feel her heart beating.

Was this death? If so, it was peaceful.

The world was black, conscious thought was fleeing from her, scattering in the wind like Zhe Yan’s peach blossoms. 

Then, as if from afar a strange not-sensation, swept over her slowly, delicately, comfortingly. She felt as if she were falling up and down all at once, she was everywhere and nowhere, she was everything and everyone and nothing.

And then she caught the scent of red spider lilies and sandalwood, it smelled like her husband, like love and safety, comfort and joy.

She smiled.

Death was kind.


	4. Chapter 4

Dong Hua had not needed to meet with the current Tianjun in over a hundred years and was mildly surprised by what he saw. Physically he was the same as the last time Dong Hua had seen him. Tianjun’s hair was the same uniform white it had been for a while. The deep crags of wrinkles now lining his face were a bit deeper, but that was all. Tianjun’s mind which had always been a bit slow in Dong Hua’s opinion had only slowed further with time.

No what had been surprising was his spirit, there was as shaky and ephemeral quality to it. It was immediately obvious to Dong Hua that the Tianjun was dying. Not of any malady or injury, but simply old age. 

Sometime next fifty years Hao De son of Shin Ho would lie down to sleep and find himself in the realm of nothingness. Had no one else noticed? Or was everyone merely not mentioning it out of politeness? It seemed Ye Hua and Bai Qian’s ascension to the Throne of Heaven would indeed come a few hundred years earlier than planned.

In any case Tianjin’s slowed mind was part of the reason it had taken him nearly a full day to get the man to leave the matter of the Ghost Realm fully in his hands. The key issue finally addressed Tianjun shifted the conversation. The man attempted -and failed- to subtly boast about the gift he had prepared for the upcoming celebration of Dong Hua’s daughter’s birth two months hence. 

Dong Hua listened with only half an ear as his thoughts were preoccupied with thoughts of the Ghost Tribe, Heavens Throne and Fengjiu. He realised he should contact Fengjiu after this meeting was over to inform her that he would be back a day or so later than planned. He’d need to talk to Ye Hua and Bai Qian too, but that could wait until tomorrow, Hao De would not be dying so soon.

From his sleeve a voice called his name, a mere whisper of sound escaped from the mirror he had just been thinking about. It was Fengjiu, and he had never heard her voice so weak before. Without word or movement he teleported to the bells.

And quickly tried to suppress the shiver of fear that crept into his mind when he realised he was in the Fox Den and Fengjiu was not. The bells were sitting innocently on her bedside table. Why was she not wearing them? No, that thought was irrelevant, and would not help him find her any faster. He moved quickly through the Fox Den and called for Migu.

“Diju-” Came the surprised greeting from Migu.

“Where is Fengjiu?” He interrupted, not allowing the tree spirit to finish.

“S-she went walking, around Green Hill.”

The Kingdom of Green Hill held the largest amount of territory among all the eight wildernesses, and his wife was somewhere out there, injured.

“Did she say where, specifically? Or anything else?” He demanded.

“N-no, just that she might visit the Peach Forest” Came the worried and somewhat fear filled response. He could not find it in himself to care that he was scaring Migu right now, he would apologise later.

Fengjiu would have had no reason to contact him if she were injured in Zhe Yan’s Peach Forest, Zhe Yan would have healed her. Still he took no chances.

“Go and check the Peach Forest. If she is not there bring Zhe Yan back here with you, she’s injured. I will bring her back here when I find her.” He was not even looking at Migu as he gave his order; his attention was now focused on the copper mirror. 

The mirror was still active, glowing softly; Fengjiu was injured but not dead. So long as the mirrors were connected he could use it to track her. He began casting the spell and barely registered when Migu left. 

He focused through the mirror in his hand and followed the connection back to its partner. The connection was dim and flickering, it’s owner was unfocused, likely losing consciousness. Quickly he cast the spell, white energy enveloped the mirror for a second and quickly faded. The connection had been too weak to give him an exact location, but she would be somewhere within a five mile radius of where he landed.

Focusing on his spell as as the anchor point, he teleported.

He found himself in a green plain, immediately he started flying to search for Fengjiu, night was falling. He rose high and attempted to orient himself. It was a quick task, He could feel the malevolent energy that was a signature of the Ghost Realm less than a mile away. There were hills, rocky outcroppings, a thin river and a few small woods.

They’d had a snowball fight in those woods, a long time ago. 

He teleported to them and began searching, flying closer to the ground than before.

He saw a collection of black dots near the woods on the Ghost Realm side. He flew closer, heedless of the Ghost Realm’s dark energy, such a thing was a trifle to him. The dark blots he’d seen were bundles of black clothing, and swords; remnants of dead ghosts. But he could not see Fengjiu. Of course, she would not have been able to use her power to activate the mirror in the Ghost Realm. 

Swiftly he moved toward the forest edge and began flying under the treeline, the trees were too thick for him to scout from above. 

He quickly found her. 

“Fengjiu!” He focused on her face, as he did not quite want to look and comprehend the amount of blood he had seen on her from afar. He placed two fingers on her black veined neck, and just as quickly withdrew it in horror; there was no heartbeat. He was gathering her into his arms when he saw her smile and felt her di-

No.

He had not felt…she was not…

His face shuttered and became utterly blank.

He hadn’t felt anything, Fengjiu was still alive, she was. She was just sleeping, only sleeping. He just needed to get to Zhe Yan, he would wake her up. 

He rose and vanished in a swirl of white mist. 

\---------------- Zhe Yan-------------------

He, Zhenzhen and Migu had only been in the Fox Den for scant seconds when Dong Hua appeared with Fengjiu in his arms. Zhe Yan saw the black-red ruin that was Fengjiu’s midriff and immediately cast a diagnostic spell without a word. Seconds later he stopped, the action was futile. There was no soul to diagnose, Fengjiu was dead.

He was a healer first and foremost. Pushing all sentimentality aside, he focused on what could be done. He could do nothing for Fengjiu, but the baby tied to her chest was not crying, and was in fact barely breathing.

“Put her down.” But Dong Hua was unmoving, his gaze unfocused, thoughts seemingly in another place.

Zhe Yan removed the contents of the table and physically guided Dong Hua to lay her down. But he would not let her go, and so Fengjiu ended up half-lying down, cradled in his arms.

Zhe Yan untied the torn strips of cloth Fengjiu had used to ensure her baby was secure and picked up the now naked child. He removed his peach over-robe and placed it on the small table before him so the child would not be cold. He then placed the child down and used his diagnostic spell again, hopefully he could save Fengjiu’s daughter. 

“Why are you not healing the little highness?” Migu asked him, uncomprehending.

“There is nothing I can do.” He frowned slightly as the spell informed him of the dire state the child was in.

“Of course there is, you’re the best healer in the world.” That was Zhenzhen. 

He was, but even he could not heal the dead. 

“Zhenzhen, I can’t.” He began healing, focusing on the most pressing issue of the child’s damaged soul. 

Zhe Yan was thankful he did not look as Zhenzhen performed his own soul-searching spell and came to realise that Fengjiu was dead. He did not think he could handle seeing the grief etch itself onto his face. He could do nothing for the dead, but he might be able to spare the living, all of the living. He glanced warily at Dong Hua, who was now sitting with Fengjiu cradled in his arms, eyes unseeing. Zhenzhen had brought a hand up to touch Little Jiu’s face. Migu was simply stood and stared, in clear shock.

He had no time to worry about those two, Fengjiu’s daughter was in a dangerous state. Two months early, poison in her blood and dark energy clinging to her soul. He could not risk teleporting or moving her now that he had started healing, souls were tricky like that. More critically he could not risk Dong Hua leaving his sight.

“Zhenzhen, I need you to go to Kunlun, tell Mo Yuan what has happened, and bring him here.” He ordered, voice calm. Panic never helped anyone in these situations.

Bringing Mo Yuan was a precautionary measure, but one that was very likely going to be needed. He doubted Dong Hua was going to have a normal reaction like crying for a year, or going into silent mourning for a few thousand years. More likely than not, not his reaction will be violent and potentially cataclysmic. Together he and Mo Yuan might be able to calm Dong Hua down, or at least restrain him. If they couldn’t…well, it was best not to think about it.

“Bai Zhen.” He still wasn’t responding.

There would hopefully be time later to mourn for Little Jiu, but it was not now, not yet. 

“High God Bai Zhen!” He ordered again, shouting this time. He had used this same tone of voice to command armies of his fellow kin in the prehistoric age. This was before they had been nearly wiped out and he had dedicated himself to healing and hermitage.

Ze Yan’s order broke Bai Zhen out of his horrified daze, in all of his life he’d never known Zhe Yen to shout, not once, he didn’t realise the old phoenix even could. Startled, his hand flew back to his side and his head snapped toward Zhe Yan. What he saw in the phoenix’s face scared him. Zhe Yan was always generally calm; Bai Zhen had seen many emotions play on his face over the long years but never fear. 

“Go to Kunlun, get Mo Yuan, now!” 

Bai Zhen left.

Zhe Yan was grateful, because moments later Dong Hua started to speak, and Zhe Yan could almost not understand what he was hearing; perhaps he did not want to.

Dong Hua had come into being before Yin and Yang had parted the Holy Blue Sea. He and the Mother of Gods were born from the first breath of the universe, they were the first beings to exist after the Father of Gods. He existed before celestial gods and spirits, dark demons and ghosts. He was there before Zhe Yan hatched as the first phoenix, before the dragons were born in the skies and nine tailed foxes emerged from their dens. 

Dong Hua was his elder, and he had always known Dong Hua to have what he called ‘Purity of will’. He was unhesitant and unyielding, every action was sure and precise, every thought clear and unstained. He had been the only one capable of bringing a universe steeped in chaos and blood into peace and stability. He could have easily done the opposite, but he chose heaven, peace and a life of quiet duty protecting the world he had helped build. He was the previous Master of the Universe, the only one who had been King of both Heaven and Earth, Emperor of everything. 

But now he sounded like a child. Lost, confused and…pitiful.

“I can’t see her.” 

Zhe Yan did not have a moment to spare to wipe the tears that had gathered in his eyes, he blinked them back and continued his work.

“Little Greenbird,” Dong Hua began, and Zhe Yan’s eyes widened in shock. He’d not heard that nickname spoken since he was a child, many eons ago. “Why can’t I see her?” He continued voice plaintive.

Dong Hua had retreated into memory to escape reality, but to go so deeply, and so far back? And what could he say? ‘oh her body is right there in front of you, in fact your holding her right now, can’t you see?’. No, there was nothing he could say. As much as it pained him to hear Dong Hua so broken, it would far worse if he started processing reality without them being ready for the potential fallout. Where was Mo Yuan? 

He spared a moment to look at Dong Hua fully, and just as quickly returned his focus to healing the tiny child on the table. Dong Hua’s eyes were glazed and unseeing, but at the same time he looked so bereft, as if some small part of him knew what was going on.

“Is she not here?”

There was a long moment of silence after that. Zhe Yan used it to finish cleansing and strengthening the soul of the tiny child in front of him.

Dong Hua had begun to mutter something softly, too quiet for Zhe Yan to hear. He was too focused on repairing the child’s organs to pay more attention to Dong Hua and make sure he did not move. After a few moments he realised he knew what Dong Hua had whispered, because he had kept repeating it, “Star”.

There was only a few more seconds left until he would be finished healing when he saw Dong Hua rise and lay Fengjiu gently down to walk outside.

He cursed and called out, “Dijun stop! Come back! Dong Hua!”

If he left now the child would die as the organs he was supporting and healing would collapse all at once.

Ten seconds passed and the healing was complete. He had just picked up the child so he could follow Dong Hua and check she was healthy simultaneously, when Zhenzhen and Mo Yuan arrived. 

Mo Yuan’s grim countenance likely matched his own.

“Whe-” Mo Yuan began.

“Outside.” He replied.

The three High Gods ran, and the still dazed Migu stumbled slowly behind to follow.

\--------------- Bai Qian----------------------

Bai Qian had been adamant that she did not need a wet-nurse when little Fuzan came along. Her own mother had not needed one, so how could she do less? Embarrassingly,it it had taken only six months before she allowed a wet-nurse to feed Fuzan for a day so she could drink a little. She was sure that five entire years without any alcohol at all was tantamount to torture. In this she realised the mortals had it easier, with the quick growth of their babies. They only breastfed for a year on average, for immortals it was closer to five. 

She allowed herself to drink only a few times a year, the rest of the time she was sober so she did not inadvertently poison her second son. Today was one of those rare wonderful days, it was late evening and all the children in bed. She was getting ready to guiltlessly enjoy a bottle of Zhe Yan’s peach wine when her husband appeared beside her.

“Where are the children?” He asked.

“Sleeping of course, and Nainai is putting Fuzan back down to sleep, wha-” She attempted to ask why he seemed so worried, but he interrupted her. 

“Dong Hua has not been here?” 

“Of course not, he is with Tian-” 

“Tianjun just told me he left without word or warning, if the children are not in danger then-” There was only one other reason Dong Hua Dijun would rush around.

“Fengjiu.” They said in unison.

Without another word spoken they both teleported to the Fox Den.

She and Ye Hua arrived to see Dong Hua standing on a swathe of grass outside the Fox Den entrance, staring at the stars with placid-if blank-look on his face. She did not know what she expected, but this was certainly not it. She and Ye Hua moved quickly toward him, but as soon as she saw her Fourth Brother, Teacher and Zhe Yen running out of the Fox Den she moved as quickly as magic would allow. Ye Hua arrived in front of the three High Gods at the same time she did.

She had a thousand questions and worries, but instead of voicing all of them she asked only one.

“What is going on?”

The sky blackened in answer.

\------------------ Dong Hua --------------------

Stars.

Dong Hua had the thought that they were important, though he could not remember why.

Perhaps he’d realise what it was if he saw them.

He did not realise he had walked outside until the night breeze blew a strand of his hair across his face. He looked up then, night had come and stars had started to appear, ready to begin their pavane across the sky. 

He spent a long moment looking up at the stars twinkling gently in the sky, innocent and oblivious. He could not see Fengjiu’s star. How clever destiny was, he thought, and how cruel fate. It had waited until his life was at the height of joy before taking his light from him.

He had seen and dealt out death to far too many beings to not know the feel of it. No, he was too intimately aware of death to successfully trick himself into believing that Fengjiu’s was not real, and unescapably final. There was no recourse, no sacred artefact or holy plant he could find. There was no spell he could cast, no sacrifice he could offer to return her to life. 

She was dead. 

Gone.

Fengjiu was dead.

And the stars kept shining, as if the loss of her star was insignificant. And for the first time in his life, true hatred rose in him, fierce and unquenchable, born of grief he could not fully comprehend. 

What had he said once?

‘I have never feared destiny, and I certainly don’t need it’s charity’

This was his punishment he supposed. For his arrogance and naivety. For hoping he could love and be loved, and daring to try. Thirty thousand years ago, there had been a chink in the armour of destiny. A strange twist of fate that allowed him the chance to gamble on love.

He had gambled, and for thirty thousand years he thought he had won. 

How foolish of him.

He spoke then.

A single word.

A rejection of fate and denial of destiny.

“No.”

And the world began to die. 

\---------------- Zhe Yan----------------------------

Zhe Yan watched as the stars blackened and the moon drew close bleeding red flame. The ground started to shake and collapse into itself as chunks of earth rose into the sky.

They were too late. 

“This is your answer? To destroy the world? Hardly the action one expects of the previous Master of the Universe!” He shouted to Dong Hua at the same time Mo Yuan was ordering them all to form a barrier around Dong Hua. 

Green energy leapt forth as Little Five added her own barrier, it merged with the shields Mo Yuan, Ye Hua and Zhenzhen had formed.

Zhe Yan used a single hand to raise his own barrier, as the other was still holding Dong Hua’s tiny daughter. His gold met the blue, white and green magic of his fellow High Gods and merged into a single multi-coloured shield. Sealing the seeming harbinger of the worlds end and the magic he was casting inside. 

Everything paused, the barrier held for a heartbeat, two, and then it shattered. Multi-coloured remnants of magic floated in the air like snow before they disappeared.

As the residue of their magic dissipated he saw a new barrier had risen, clear and colourless. The only indication of it was a faint distortion in the air, as if heat was warping it. 

The world shook once more, and it seemed to him that the blackened stars were screaming.

Mo Yuan was swiftly ordering them all to attack a single point of the barrier. The Yuanxuan sword struck the shield with a clash as loud as thunder. Little Five’s Yuqing fan focused slicing streams of air at the same point, and Ye Hua and Zhenzhen summoned their own swords to join them.

He added his own magic to the assault, but even as he did that he knew it would not work. If there was a single thing Dong Hua excelled at above all skills common among immortals, it was shields and barriers. 

The water in the lake had started to boil, steam rose to lend a rather mystic air to everything. Of course Dong Hua would manage to make the end of the world look elegant. The child in his arms was struggling to breathe due to the hot dense air as the world began to burn. 

Lord of the Lesser Sun indeed.

“Can this help?” Came a shaky voice from his left.

Suddenly Migu was beside him, sluggishly offering a stone pendant shaped like a leaf. Zhe Yan’s hands were full, but he peeled back two fingers from Dong Hua’s daughter to take the pendant. 

What could Migu possibly have that could help?

He took the pendant and the answer came to him immediately. 

The pendant was an amalgam of many powerful spells, some of which he did not know, the webs of each combined to form a complex matrix. The result was an artefact of extreme power and subtlety; clearly Dong Hua’s work. And it was likely the only thing in the world now that could get through the barrier, by virtue of the fact it shared Dong Hua’s nature, and was created by him. 

There was no time to inform the others of what he was doing, no time. He stopped his magic barrage and moved toward the barrier. Gripping the pendant in his now free hand he moved it close to and then attempted to pass it through the barrier. It worked his hand moved as if there was nothing there at all.

He cradled the pendant to his chest and moved forward. The pendant turned to dust as its power was dissolved and absorbed by the barrier, but he was thorough.

 

He was met by the utter stillness of the air, a stark contrast to the chaos outside. The sudden loud crying from his arms startled him. He had forgotten in his panic that he still held Dong Hua’s daughter in his arms. She could breathe now that the air was calm.

Gold energy pooled at his fingers as he cast the spell that would knock Dong Hua unconscious. But the automatic response from the barrier was sudden and devastating. The spell he had thrown froze mid-air, gold energy turned red as the spell returned, hitting him in the chest.

The power of it brought him to his knees and nearly tore him apart; if he were any weaker he would have died. The spell reverberated, and sent shockwaves of agony coursing through his spirit. He managed to catch himself from completely falling to the floor with his free hand; the other still cradled the child. 

His body did not fare so well. But he could already feel his shaky spirit working on repairing his damaged organs even as blood pooled in his lungs. He coughed to clear them, and spat the blood on the ground.

How arrogant of him to assume he could attack Dong Hua inside his own barrier and come out unscathed. Perhaps he was getting senile, ah well. Distinctions such as age would not matter for much longer, nothing would.

In sheer desperation he shouted “What about your son, Dong Hua! And your daughter! Will you kill them too?”

Seconds passed, and there was no answer from the deity standing at the centre of the worlds end.

Zhe Yan laughed then, and it was as shaky as his spirit. Was this truly how the world would end? In fire? He’d always thought it would be cold, a slow freezing as life and creation slowed and died.

He upset that he’d been so wrong.

\----------------- Dong Hua ------------------------

The world was imperfect now, untidy, and wrong. He would destroy it, and build a better one, a perfect world.

A world where this day never happened, where he and Fengjiu would spend all their time into eternity in bliss. They would watch their children grow and have children of their own, and perhaps a million years from now they would both be old, and step into the void together while dreaming. 

Some ant was chittering nearby, he could barely make sense of it. Eventually understanding came.

Son? Yes, he remembered now, he had a son. But he did not have a daughter, did he?

Slowly, almost imperceptibly he drew his eyes from the blackened vault of the heavens back to earth.

The ant, Little Greenbird he noted absently, was holding a something, a small bundle. A tuft of white hair crowned a tiny head.

She’d always wanted two.

The thought caused him to gasp, a sharp intake of breath as he realised what he was doing, the world he was damning.

He could not do this; destroy the universe out of his selfish desire of a single person, no matter how beloved. But the agony of her loss was too great. For the first time in the entirety of his long existence, he was not in control.

There was a reason he had never dared to love.

If he could not control his emotions or bring himself to face the full reality of his loss, the only way this day was ending, was with the world ending. There was only one thing he could do now, to spare the world, to spare his son and daughter and all he knew from annihilation. 

With the same will he used to drag the world from bloody horror into peace, he wrested control of himself. A moment was all he could manage, a single heartbeat, but that was all he needed. 

In utter silence he raised his hand to the heavens and cast the spell.

My children.

I’m sorry.

Fengjiu.

Forgive me.

\---------- Everyone--------------------

The gods outside of the barrier had been frantic in their attacks after Zhe Yan had entered the barrier and fallen. Mo Yuan was issuing another order when suddenly a white light emanated from Dong Hua, and with only a blood red moon illuminating the starless sky, it was blinding. As the light faded and their eyes adjusted, they saw that all around Dong Hua were strange symbols, moon bright and unknown to any of them. They glowed in a strange pattern, two squares overlapping and entwined, so that the edge of it resembled an eight pointed star.

There was a brief flash as the symbols rose from the ground, they swiftly surrounded and entered Dong Hua’s body. The five high gods watched in muted horror as the previous Emperor of Heaven and Earth collapsed like a puppet with cut strings, motionless. 

The world brightened, the stars returned and the moon stopped bleeding and the ground ceased its collapse. 

All was still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear it gets better...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An update! Apologies for this being so late! some of these characters are damn intimidating to write!  
> (The very kind soul that commented on chapter four is to thank for having this chapter out a bit earlier, it was super inspiring to read such a kind and thoughtful review!)

“Zhe Yan!” Came the worried cries from Zhenzhen and Little Five. A moment later they were beside him and helped him move from his crouched position to sit on the floor. The baby cradled against his chest was alive, if a bit quiet. 

Mo Yuan and Ye Hua had wisely moved straight toward Dong Hua, likely knowing the two little foxes would come to check him first. He supposed it was nice to know his wellbeing was prioritised in this still dangerous world-ending situation.

“I’m fine, stop pestering me.” He attempted levity, but he found his lungs were not yet recovered. He sounded far weaker and breathy than he’d have liked as he dragged air through still damaged tissues. It did exactly nothing to reassure Little Five or Zhenzhen.

He was too busy focusing on the still form of Dong Hua ahead to pay much attention to the two little foxes. Dong Hua could still wake up and start this entire thing all over again, nothing was certain. But he had neither the physical or magical strength left to move yet.

He saw Mo Yuan kneel and place a hand to Dong Hua’s neck to check his pulse. Ye Hua was standing vigilant above, sword not yet sheathed, smart boy. He continued watching as Mo Yuan said something that caused Ye Hua to sheathe his sword. Mo Yuan then lifted Dong Hua into his arms and walked toward him.

It was not a sight he’d ever expected to see, Dong Hua lying in Mo Yuan’s arms like a hapless maid. He’d be sure to tease Dong Hua about it in a few hundred thousand years.

“He’s alive, just unconscious.” Ye Hua explained.

Of course he was alive. The world would not be so silent if the previous Master of the Universe had died. But perhaps not, Dong Hua had emerged silently from the Holy Blue Sea, perhaps he would leave the world just as quietly one day, he was never one for pomp and ceremony.

Zhenzhen and Little Five moved to help him stand, but he waved them off. “Wait.” He asked. 

He could not allow the others back in to the Fox Den yet, not with Fengjiu lying lifeless in the central chamber while Little Five and Ye Hua were still unaware of what happened. 

He shared a meaningful look with Mo Yuan and nodded for him to go on ahead back to the Fox Den. Migu followed Mo Yuan back to the Fox Den in a daze, muttering about preparing rooms for the guests.

He motioned for Ye Hua and Little Five to sit down, puzzled they did so. Zhenzhen also stayed; ready to comfort Little Five. But it was just as likely he was not quite ready to confront the reality awaiting him in the Fox Den himself just yet. 

And so Zhe Yan sat on the emerald circle of grass that had been protected inside Dong Hua’s barrier and started to speak. With a shaky voice and laboured breath he explained what he had witnessed and what had happened as he understood it. 

\-----------------------------------------------

Little Fives every movement since she knew about Fengjiu’s passing had been automatic, done without thought. She fed Fengjiu’s little daughter, put her to bed in her third brothers room and was now nearly begging for something else to do. 

“How can I…what can I do to…help.” Little Five asked as she reappeared in the central chamber, pointedly not looking at the centre table where Fengjiu was lying. 

Little Five was clearly desperate to keep moving so she would not have time to think. Zhe Yan pondered for a moment before an idea came to him. It would be a good excuse to get her away from the iron tang of blood that was now pervading the Fox Den.

He was not as unaffected by Fengjiu’s death as he was attempting to portray, and a sigh escaped him before he spoke. “Orange river valley, in the central realm, do you know it?”

There was a small negative headshake from Little Five. 

“I do,” Came Zhenzhen’s voice, pushed through a throat closed up in grief

“There is a flower there, called ‘Immediate Dawn’. It has yellow-orange petals, it’s stem and leaves are purple green. If you find that and bring it back, it will help me extract the poison from Fengjiu’s bod-”

There was a broken sob from Little Five. Though Ye Hua already had his arm around her shoulders in a comforting embrace Zhe Yan saw her hands were twisted in her dress. Just like she used to do as a child when she was distressed.

He walked over and untwisted her hands and raised them to his face. Little Five’s eyes followed them until her tear filled eyes met his.

“It will help.” He said, his voice as full of conviction as he could manage.

The tears escaped Little Five’s eyes as she nodded. 

While the flower did have some poison neutralising properties, it was magically useless. Zhe Yan did not need it, he could extract the poison easily enough now that it was not…active. Zhenzhen knew of the plant, but thankfully he remained silent. The flower was not the point, giving them time to grieve and something else to focus on was. It went unspoken that Ye Hua would go with them.

“We’ll go now.” Zhenzhen spoke, tone half suggestion and half command.

There was a nod from Little Five, and a faintly heard ‘Mmmh’ of affirmation before the three High Gods disappeared from the Fox Den. 

There was only he and Migu left to watch over Fengjiu now. As Mo Yuan was standing sentinel over an unconscious Dong Hua in another room. Migu was standing to the side, crying silently, still in shock.

Zhe Yan sighed again and moved over to Fengjiu. She was covered by a sheet, but the black-green veins of the poison that had claimed her life were still prominent. Fengjiu’s skin was already porcelain pale, and in death she was paler still, it made the poison look all the more ghastly.

Zhe Yan decided he could not wait for Little Five to return, seeing the poison in Fengjiu…it was not right. He picked up a bowl sitting nearby and swiftly transferred the poison out of Fengjiu’s body, it came out of her mouth in mucous-like strands. He coughed as the tiny amount of magic he was using was almost too much for his injured spirit to spare.

He knew this poison, it was not common, but nor was it particularly rare. Fengjiu had been a High Immortal, the poison should have had little effect. Even weakened with pregnancy her powers should have quickly nullified the poison, unless her power was supressed at the time.

Seconds later the grim task was done, and he placed the bowl in one of the high alcoves nearby, he would look into it later.

Migu spotted the bowl. “A bowl! I can cook now, did you know? I was making the evening meal for Little Highness earlier when…”, Migu paused and Zhe Yan watched as the spirit shied from the truth, “I can cook now.” Migu finished as his hand moved to grasp a pendant that was no longer there.

Shock and denial were often the default reactions to death, and he was well versed in dealing with the aftermath of that. He walked to Migu, and carefully guided the tree spirit over to his ‘little highness’.

“That is good, Fengjiu is sleeping right now, could you stay here and make sure she rests well?” He asked. The lie would allow the tree spirit to remain in denial a little while longer, which was perhaps cruel, but it would give him time to make a remedy for the shock. 

“Of course, that’s the little highness; I would be a poor retainer of the Fox Den if I did not say with her, right?” Migu asked him, with a glazed look.

“That’s right, just sit here, I’ll be back.” He promised, after a moment he moved to the kitchen to prepare a medicinal tea for Migu. 

Zhe Yan cleared a space on the kitchen table and gathered all the items he would need to make the tea. Always prepared, he summoned the herbs he needed and got to work. Ginseng, skullcap, thorowax, mint and a red date. His thoughts turned to the next steps to take as he chopped, sliced, ground and mixed the ingredients. 

\------Mo Yuan--------------------------

Mo Yuan was standing vigil near Dong Hua’s bedside. The Xuanyuan sword resting in his right hand was ready to use at a moment’s notice. If Dong Hua woke ready to fight there would be no time to summon it.

Zhe Yan had come by a few minutes earlier with a cup of tea and updated him on the general goings on in the Fox Den. His little brother Ye Hua, Bai Zhen and Seventeen had returned a little while ago from the errand Zhe Yan had sent them on. Ye Hua and Bai Zhen had quickly left on other grim errands. The only living occupants of the Fox Den currently were himself, Dong Hua, Zhe Yan and Seventeen. Bai Fengjiu’s body had now been cleaned and was lying in her chamber.

As for Dong Hua, only his purple outer robe had been stained with Bai Fengjiu’s blood. The black liquid had been too viscous to soak further into Dong Hua’s actual robes. Without the royal purple outer robe Dong Hua was resting only in his three robe layers. The outermost of these was a pale purple. It was more of a pinkish-orchid colour, than the more blue toned lavender purple Dong Hua had often worn before. 

Mo Yuan could not have been the only one to notice Dong Hua’s inner robe colour choices had been steadily verging more on the pinker side of purple since he married Fengjiu. Pink was her favourite colour and she wore it often, and so he had subtly changed the hue of his own garments to match her. It was a clear symbol of how much the previous master of the universe had loved Bai Fengjiu. And clear reminder of how cruel it was that she was gone.

Combined with the fact he was completely unconscious, in his repose Dong Hua looked strangely fragile. Mo Yuan knew Dong Hua was anything but weak. It was an illusion brought on by the fact Mo Yuan had never seen the man so unguarded.

If anyone would have told him in the future he would carry an unconscious Dong Hua in his arms, he would have smiled and suggested they meditate more on the truths of the universe. A polite and subtle way of saying they were crazy.

It was strange now to think he had not even liked the man at first; in fact he’d actively disliked him. As a young child all he’d understood was that when the white haired man appeared his father would leave soon afterwards to war, sometimes for many long years. It had been Zhe Yan, his adopted elder brother who had later explained the necessity of his father’s frequent absences. 

With his mother often ill due to the effort she had expended to repair the Pillars of the World, he was often by her bedside. In those long hours be began to tinker, finding great joy and challenge in creating bizarre devices and weapons.

Sometimes he would wake to find another device or weapon sitting beside his own. When he analysed the new artefact he always found something new he had not seen or realised before. A mechanism, a certain twisting of the breaths of magic in such a way that brought a whole host of other possibilities. If it had not been for Zhe Yan and his then mysterious mentor-rival artificer his childhood would have been a far more cold and lonely affair.

After he had created the Donghuang bell in a fit of young teenage pique it was Dong Hua that had suggested he could come and join them on the battlefield despite his age. ‘He won’t have time to make any more world ending devices at least’ had been the amused remark that convinced his father to allow it.

He never shared that it had been Dong Hua’s silent mix of rivalry and mentorship that had allowed him to bind the energies of the universe in such a fashion to create the Donghuang Bell in the first place. Though honestly Dong Hua should not have been giving hints to any child about such powerful energy without at least supervising. But that was Dong Hua, and rarely did such common understandings as ‘don’t teach a child how to blow up the world’ apply to him. 

Dong Hua had been at various points his enemy, rival, mentor and general, but always a friend.

They had never asked each other for help, or suggested others help in any situation unless they requested it. Not out of any secret enmity, but because they each had the utmost faith that the other would be able to overcome any trial that came before them. To help or to offer it would come across as suggesting the other could not handle whatever the trial was. They both respected each other too much to potentially insult the other by doing so. 

Dong Hua had trusted Mo Yuan with the more martial side of peacekeeping in the Four Seas and Eight Wildernesses when he had sat upon the throne of the universe. And for two hundred thousand years until the Donghuang Bell incident that faith had been rewarded. It was strange now to see Dong Hua battling his own trial, one that he might not be able to overcome. 

He had just finished completing the thought when Dong Hua went from unconscious to fully awake, moving to sit up in the space of an eye blink. Surprised, Mo Yuan erected a barrier around Dong Hua in an unthinking reflex reaction.

And was then treated to the rare sight of Dong Hua looking at him with a mild look of bemusement. “Playing pranks Mo Yuan?” Dong Hua asked as he raised a finger to the barrier and it instantly collapsed.

Mo Yuan moved to create another but he could not move. He realised that the barrier had not been broken, but reshaped and redirected at him. Too late he remembered that the base formation for that barrier had been something he learned from watching Dong Hua, of course he would know how to break it. That had been hundreds of thousands of years ago. He thought he could be forgiven for his poor memory, if that mistake had not possibly cost the world its right to exist. 

He immediately got to work analysing the barrier for weak points. The base formation was one he understood, but the connecting points and layer system was complex, not something he favoured. It would take him fiv-no four minutes to break it. Hopefully he could do so before Dong Hua decided to destroy the world again.

“I estimate you will break through that barrier in three minutes.” Dong Hua stated, his voice unhurried and relaxed as always.

It had been a long time since anyone had overestimated his abilities; Mo Yuan supposed he should be happy that Dong Hua had such faith in him. 

“Though I am interested to see which method you will use to break it, I imagine you’re quite worried.” 

Mo Yuan watched as Dong Hua rose from the bed and moved toward the low table, sat down and started writing.

“I am in my right mind,” Dong Hua reassured him. “And I’d thank you not to try and skewer me if I drop the barrier.” Dong Hua stated with a pointed look at the Xuanyuan sword he was holding.

Dong Hua’s calm and composed demeanour would not worry Mo Yuan in any other situation; he’d seen the man far more relaxed with situations others would consider far more horrifying and disastrous. Mo Yuan had heard that not five seconds after learning of his seeming death with the Donghuang Bell Dong Hua had already mourned and processed it. The deity had swiftly moved to solidify peace within the world by ensuring the Second Prince of the Ghost Tribe became the Ghost King.

But this? He was far too calm, especially when compared to the world ending grief Mo Yuan had witnessed from the man not an hour past. Something was wrong, but Dong Hua did not appear to be ready to end the world again for its lack of Bai Fengjiu. It was best to gather as much information as he could, and fighting would not be terribly productive. 

Mo Yuan realised he could move now, and speak. “I will not.” He replied as he sheathed his sword.

“Good.” Came the reply from Dong Hua, a simple affirmation without inflection, the barrier fell. 

Mo Yuan walked over to Dong Hua and sat opposite the table Dong Hua was writing on. 

“You remember everything?”

“I do.” Came the disinterested reply. 

Something was very wrong.

“What was that spell you cast?” 

Mo Yuan watched as Dong Hua lightly traced a finger across his right wrist. Tiny silver shimmering symbols appeared and dimmed into nothingness just as quickly. 

“It was an impromptu creation, and flawed as a result.” Dong Hua mused, voice ponderous. “It was my intention to completely sever all current, past and future feelings of love, in all its forms.”

Mo Yuan watched as Dong Hua’s eyes rose to gaze at a beautiful tapestry, depicting Nine-tailed foxes dancing through the heavens. The red furred fox stood out clearly as Fengjiu, but so too did the silver thread used for another fox, little Gungun. He started to look for Dong Hua in the tapestry when the man himself spoke and Mo Yuan brought his gaze back to the living deity. 

“However it appears I only managed to mute such feelings. Likely due to the imperfect design and application. I am tempted to tinker and see if I can perfect it.”

Dong Hua was casually musing about perfecting a spell that would completely remove his capacity to love forever. It was extremely worrying and Mo Yuan did not realise he had risen from his seat and taken a half step forward in a pre-emptive attempt to stop Dong Hua from further mutilating himself until Dong Hua spoke again.

“You are right, it would be dangerous. And perhaps I should not risk the world’s existence to sate my own curiosity.” Dong Hua stated, as if the destruction of the world or not was a mere afterthought. 

Dong Hua Dijun had always been known as cold and austere, occasionally playful but rarely merciful. Even after marrying Fengjiu and having Gungun this had held true. Now with his sense of love muted he resembled even more the Ruler of Heaven and Earth he used to be, and it made Mo Yuan wary.

His silence must have given away the gravity of his thoughts, because Dong Hua spoke again.

“It was this or the world’s destruction; I did not think you so nihilistic to accept the latter.” Dong Hua sent him a pointed look, re-inked his brush and continued writing.

Mo Yuan was also selfishly grateful he would not need to fight his old mentor and friend.

“You mentioned it was imperfectly applied, does that mean this spell will end?” He asked.

“End?” Dong Hua mused, “Possible, but unlikely.”

“You don’t know?” He could not quite keep the incredulity out of his tone. It was extremely rare that the man before him did not know something, no matter what the subject. 

He realised his error slightly too late as Dong Hua’s eyes lifted from the scroll he was writing on and the brush stilled. There was a glimmer in the man’s eyes, he had seen that look often, but rarely had it been directed at him.

He was already internally grimacing as Dong Hua asked in a languid manner “Did you know the exact day the grief of losing your beloved Seventeen to your little brother would cease to draw fresh wounds each day you woke?” 

He’d appreciate the skill it took to always be able to verbally wound another on command more if he were not just on the receiving end of it.

He dipped his head in acquiescence; Dong Hua’s point was well made, if a bit cruelly delivered. It was obvious his questions were not welcome, but he risked one more.

“What happened to Bai Fengjiu?” 

The answer came immediately and without inflection “It was a correction of destiny; it seems we were ill-fated after all.” Dong Hua stated with supreme indifference.

Mo Yuan found himself unable to reply, what could he say? Deny it was destiny, offer a platitude? As for details, Dong Hua either did not have any, or was not willing to share them.

The man sitting before him now was unchanged from the one he had known for nine hundred thousand years. Dong Hua had not understood love or experienced it in truth before Bai Fengjiu thirty thousand years ago. So short a time, but Mo Yuan did not realise how much that love had changed Dong Hua until now, the difference was jarring.

Mo Yuan was brought out of his musings by Dong Hua sliding the still drying scroll across the table. “Here, this will be of use to someone. I have more pressing matters to attend to.” Dong Hua stated as he took a blank scroll and began writing once more.

Mo Yuan picked up the scroll and scanned its contents and found it was a detailed plan for a funeral, Bai Fengjiu’s funeral. 

“You may go.”

Mo Yuan spared a moment to smile ruefully as he rose. He had not been dismissed like that in over three hundred thousand years. Not since he was only one of seventy two generals under Dong Hua’s command as he conquered the world.

How was he supposed to explain this development? He would tell Zhe Yan first, at least the phoenix would know what he was talking about in regards to Dong Hua’s current state.

\------------------------Zhe Yan ---------------------------------------

 

Fengjiu’s kind soul had touched thousands of hearts, and Zhe Yan did not even know who to inform first. Her family of course, her father and mother, and her son. It would have been Dong Hua’s role as her husband to do so, but the Dong Hua walking around now was not a version any but the eldest of gods had seen.

He’d have help from Mo Yuan to help explain to everyone else why Dong Hua Dijun was seemingly utterly unaffected by his wife’s death. And also warn anyone that was likely to interact with him to tread with more respect and caution. This was not the laid-back retired Emperor of Heaven and Earth, loving father, doting husband or any variation thereof. This was Dong Hua, the Shaoyang Monarch of the Purple Palace that danced through the chaos and blood filled battlefields of prehistory, and he did not suffer fools. 

With Gungun, it was likely better for Little Five and Ye Hua to deliver the news that his mother was dead, and his father was…not the father he’d grown up knowing, and might never be again. Zhe Yan doubted that informing his son of his mother’s death had even crossed the man’s mind. Functionally Gungun had lost both of his parents in a single evening. 

Poor child.

Zhe Yan sighed and took mental stock of the situation and wondered if there were anything more he could do.

Ye Hua had just returned to the Nine Heavens to sort out the inevitable panic that had resulted from the past hour’s events, people tended to worry when the sky started falling. He would only be sharing the fact that the calamity was now over, that Dijun had stopped it. Family and friends still needed time to learn of Fengjiu’s death. They had decided to let the children sleep and tell them in the morning, it was likely to be their last night of untroubled dreams for a while. And they thought it was fair to give everyone a day to grieve before the whole world found out.

Zhenzhen was the oldest member of the Bai family present, and so it had fallen to him to inform Fengjiu’s father, their second brother Bai Yi of her death. He was currently in the Central Realm doing so.

Migu was currently fast asleep courtesy of a sleeping pill Zhe Yan had tricked him in to taking. The anti-shock tea had not worked and so the best solution was to let the tree spirit try and sleep off the shock instead. 

That left just Dong Hua, Mo Yuan, Little Five and himself in the Fox Den. Mo Yuan was explaining to Little Five that the Dong Hua she knew was gone, and that she needed to tread far more carefully with this ‘new’ version of him. Mo Yuan had not yet shared the scroll containing the funeral arrangements for Fengjiu with Little Five, that could wait a few days.

Dong Hua was in another room, busy writing something else. That just left him, and he was feeling a bit at loose ends. He’d just decided he would go to the Central Realm to support Zhenzhen when Dong Hua strode in from the other room.

He went straight to their bedroom where Fengjiu’s body was, others moved to follow but he swiftly remerged before they could enter wearing a non-bloodstained purple outer robe.  
\---------Zhe Yan --------------------------- 

 

Her approach was wary and her tone cautious but not timid, Ye Hua was the only other person with the ability to turn Little Five in to a shy maid. 

“Do you want to hold her?”

“No.” 

“She’s your daughter.” There was an undercurrent of outrage in Little Fives tone, and anger.

It was no surprise to him that Little Five had moved to the anger stage of grief quicker than most. But she was not directing it at the one person in the room, and perhaps the world that would not let her do so unscathed. The previous master of the universe had become known for his legendary thick-skin and general uncaring aura, but that was not the man standing in the room now. 

“And?” Came the cold response from Dong Hua.

He saw the anger flare in Little Five’s eyes and realised was not going to end well. He noted that Mo Yuan had moved from Dong Hua’s side to occupy the still sizable space between Dong Hua and Little Five. 

“Little Five, don’t.” He warned, but he only received a short head shake in denial. 

“You’re going to leave her, just like that?” Little Five demanded as she took a step forward toward Dong Hua. She looked quite menacing for someone holding a child in both arms.

There was no movement from Dong Hua, he looked every inch the statue Zhe Yan had joked about as a child. The delivery was unhurried and seemingly without inflection, but there was a warning hidden in it. “You are in no position to lecture me, child.” 

To him the warning was as clear as a trumpet call. He realised too late that it was because both he and Mo Yuan had known Dong Hua since they were children and had fought under his command in unnumbered battles and wars. They knew almost instinctively when the man was not in the mood for foolishness or petty displays of emotion, the younger generations did not.

“And why not? Someone shoul-.” 

“Be silent.” Came the warning from Mo Yuan but it arrived too late, Dong Hua’s venomous tongue was unleashed.

“Three hundred and three years,” Dong Hua began “after this time has passed, you may attempt to lecture me.” Dong Hua stated with the air of someone granting a great favour.

Zhe Yan grimaced as Little Five opened her mouth to query Dong Hua, but he spoke first. “That was how long you abandoned your firstborn for, was it not?”

Zhe Yan was closer to Little Five and he saw her move before Mo Yuan did, but the God of War was faster. Mo Yuan wrapped a hand around her arm in restraint, when a second had passed and she had not stopped trying to get to Dong Hua, Mo Yuan spoke “Seventeen, the child.” He reminded her sternly. 

And Zhe Yen saw her calm down, physically at least.  
If Dong Hua had a look on his face at all it was only the faintest hint of amused distain, but perhaps Zhe Yan was just imagining it.

“High God Mo Yuan, I suggest you teach your disciple better manners. I will not be so amicable a second time.” 

Zhe Yan saw the surprise in Little Five’s eyes as Mo Yuan bowed low to Dong Hua and apologised. Seeing her beloved Shifu apologise for her behaviour seemed to drain the last of her anger away, leaving only sorrow. 

Dong Hua started to walk back in to the room he had woken in.

“She doesn’t even have a name.” Little five whispered mournfully.

Dong Hua paused, but did not turn around. “She preferred Xue Yue, if the child’s hair was like mine. The characters are for ‘Snow’ and ‘Joy’, Bai Xueyue, call her that.” And saying so, he left the room.

Zhe Yan had heard from Fengjiu that she had let Dong Hua name their incoming daughter. He had decided on Xue Yue as a name and Fengjiu had loved the general sound of it. But the characters he had chosen were for ‘Study’ and ‘Jade’, and Fengjiu had preferred softer meanings. The fact he had chosen the softer characters that Fengjiu had preferred gave Zhe Yan hope. What reason was there for him to do so if not for sentimentality, if not for love? And the memory of love? 

Dong Hua still had the capacity for love, but as Mo Yuan had reported it was muted and dim.

\-------Bai Qian---------

“Do you understand now?” Her master asked her, his voice full of sympathy.

The man she had only just gotten used to treating more like a respected elder brother than the venerable Dijun was gone. She did not know this Dong Hua. The memory and terror she’d felt as the world ended and she could do nothing was still fresh. She focused on that fear and used it to will herself to not chase after Dong Hua and slap him to try and snap him out the spell he’d cast.

Instead she sat down and cradled the newly named baby Xueyue. She was still sleeping blissfully in her arms, despite all the previous commotion. It seemed this little one would be like her elder brother, all composed and unruffled.

Not a minute had passed before Dong Hua swept back into the room and moved toward the entrance of the Fox Den. There was a scroll in his hand, but he had not closed it, the ink was likely still drying. Seeing him so casually ignore of all them to go and do whatever he had deemed more important than his baby daughter or his dead wife angered her.

“You won’t even say Fengjiu’s name, or see her.” She attempted to not be angry, but her tone betrayed her feelings. 

She felt her master’s hand on her shoulder, at once comforting and restraining, warning her to stop.

“You have the arrangements. What use do I have for a corpse?” Came the cold and disinterested response from Dong Hua as he swept past her to the entrance without missing a step.

She could not help it, she had never been meek, and her grief at the fact Fengjiu was dead was overwhelming, she shouted at him. “Where are you going? Why are you going? Why is she dead!” Little Xueyue had been woken by her shouting and started to cry.

At the last question Dong Hua paused, but did not even turn to look at her when he spoke.

“That is the matter I am attempting to investigate, but I’ve found myself constantly delayed.” He reached the entryway and disappeared in a swirl of cloud. 

“Have the children lost their father too?” She wondered aloud. No one answered her, why would they? She could see as clearly as they did, saw the answer mirrored in the blank faces around her.


	6. Chapter 6

When Dong Hua retired to Taichen Palace Meng Hao and the other generals also went into seclusion – Pillow Book 2, Chapter 1 

\---------------- 

Zhong Lin was currently pacing the floor of his lord’s study and growing increasingly worried. There was less than an hour until the new day dawned and his lord had not yet returned. Zhong Lin spared a thought for poor Si Ming. The Star Lord likely had his hands full re-ordering the destinies of mortals after this event. Even in the mortal realm the skies would not have been tranquil, falling stars and other oddities would have been noted and the mortals always seemed to either panic or get overly excited when such things occurred. He did not envy Si Ming his duties and was grateful his own tasks were lighter.

Whenever something calamitous happened every panicked god and immortal in the realms usually came clamouring to Taichen Palace. As the housekeeper of Taichen palace and Dijun’s steward it normally fell to him to explain what had occurred. This time it appeared that Crown Prince Ye Hua was answering enquiries from Xiwu Palace. From the servants he learned that Dijun had solved another world ending calamity, but there were no further details.

Though Zhong Lin was grateful he had less to do, he was tempted to go over and ask if the Crown Prince had seen Dijun. His lord often disappeared to deal with various crises, but even so he usually informed Zhong Lin when he would be expected back. Rarely was something so pressing that his lord did not have time to be courteous. 

Zonglin had just made the decision to leave Taichen Palace and go to the Crown Prince for answers when he heard the guards announce Dijun’s return. He saw the purple robes of his lord appear a moment later as he came into the courtyard. Zhong Lin was relieved, his lord seemed completely normal.

“Have this delivered to Shenji mansion, there are instructions on how to find it wrapped on the outside.” Zhong Lin had not heard of such a place before, though ‘profound rock hanging over water’ had a beautiful poetry to it.

Dijun started writing as he continued his litany of orders. 

“Find Lian Song, tell him if there is any rain planned for the Western Realm of Green Hill, he will delay it until tomorrow at midday.” 

“No one is to enter Taichen Palace without my permission,” At this order Zhong Lin bowed his head in agreement to hide his confusion. In the whole world there were less than ten people with the rank that allowed them to enter Taichen without needing an invitation. His lord continued, “On that note High Goddess Ru Zhong will arrive within the hour, allow them entry.”

Zhong Lin was a simple ascended hummingbird spirit. Having served Dijun for nearly forty thousand years he was no longer considered young by the standards of his people. Even so there were many things to do with ancient times he did not know. But for there to be a High Goddess he had not heard of? “Dijun, apologies, I have not heard of this personage, how may I know it is them?” 

His lord waved a hand in languid dismissal; “The guards will know her.”

To guard Taichen Palace was a great honour; none who had not marched in Dijun’s hosts in the prehistoric era had ever earned it. Of course they would know of any High Gods that were still around from those times, likely it was one of the legendary seventy two generals that had lead those armies. 

“Understood Dijun, I take my leave.” He bowed and left to fulfil his lord’s orders. 

Zhong Lin’s first action was informing the guard captain that no one was permitted entry to the palace without Dijun’s permission, but also to expect the arrival of one Ru Zhong. The man’s eyes had widened a fraction in surprise, but that was all Zhong Lin noted. After tasking an armed courier to deliver his lords letter to this Ru Zhong’s Shenji Mansion -a location that was as isolated as it was obscure- Zhong Lin made his way out of Taichen Palace.

His first destination was Third Prince Lian Song’s Yuanji Palace. Of the two Palaces the prince held, this was the larger of the two, and the gregarious prince could more often be found there. On arrival it appeared he was not blessed with luck this day, as the prince was ensconced within his workshop in Wuji Palace. The servants informed him that the prince was apparently busy creating a gift for the arrival of the first royal daughter to be born in the Nine Heavens.

Zhong Lin hid his disapproval of the servant’s gossipy nature behind a slightly relieved smile. At least they had helped him find the prince faster, and he could hardly blame the servants for emulating their master’s own questionable personality traits. 

It was fifteen minutes to Wuji palace, it took Zhong Lin another two to make his way to the corner where the prince keep all of his various workshops. Though not nearly as extensive as Dijun’s own collection, the buildings housed tools and space for making everything from baskets to weapons of elegance and deadly beauty.

A servant pointed him to the correct workshop, and he entered noting a lack of noise, it was silent. He spotted the prince sitting at a table, the long sleeves of his robes tied back at his shoulders, his arms covered only by a close fitting linen inner robe. 

The prince turned at his entry and seemed somewhat surprised to see him there. Well, It was rare that Dijun visited Lian Song, or sent Zhong Lin to arrange a weiqi game. Often it was the prince who came to bother his lord, not that Dijun had ever sent the prince away, not immediately anyway.

“Zhong Lin! What errand does Dijun have you on now? Never mind, first come and see this.” The prince waved him forward, gesturing to the table.

“I’ve kept it secret so far, but I know you’re not one for sharing secrets.” The prince noted as he stood at the princes shoulder and peered down at the table.

Tiny filings of gold lay scattered on the table, a necklace charm lay nestled among the chaos.

The charm held the character for ‘good fortune’, wrought in gold and encircled by a band of pure jade. It was a beautiful piece, elegant in its simplicity. He noted that it was big enough that a baby or toddler would not be able to fit it in their mouth, it was a good gift and he said as much.

“This is just a small something,” Lian Song demurred, as he held the charm up to the light, moving it this way and that, attempting to catch any imperfections in the carven gold. “The actual gifts I have for Dijun’s little terror child are much more grand.”

Slightly offended on behalf of his lord and his unborn daughter, replied swiftly “How do you know this child will be a ‘little terror’, do you have some unshared secret of divination?”

“No mystical powers or gifts required,” Lian Song replied as he placed the charm back on the table and turned back to Zhong Lin, “It’s not exactly a secret that the females of the Bai family are... how to put it delicately… The most fox-like of all of them? Mischievous balls of unheeding chaos?” The prince postulated as he stared in to the distance. Listing off an impressive amount of epithets that would be close to insults, if it were not for the fact that nothing he was suggesting was strictly incorrect. 

Well, Zhong Lin supposed Lian Song had a point. But then his lord’s children only had the Bai name because he had not seen the point in creating a new family name, when they could simply use his lady’s. Passing down the family name was one of the main reasons most men even got married and have children. Then again Dijun was not ‘most’ men. He still remembered the consternation on Tianjun’s face when the man found out that both of the most important families in the Nine Heavens now carried the Bai name. 

Zhong Lin supposed if the Dragon Clan wanted to have a family name to pass down, they should have picked one sooner. Of all the ancient and elder deities only the Fox Emperor Bai Zhi had been bothered to have pick a family name. Perhaps in only ten generations the entire universe would have the family name Bai, either way Zhong Lin would be long dead, but the thought was amusing. 

Regardless, Lian Song was much more gleeful about his lord’s potential parental tribulations than was polite, even for a close friend. Zhong Lin refused to comment on it, and instead told the prince about his lord’s request. 

“Dijun kindly requests that if there is any rain planned for the western realm of green hill that you ask the rain god overseeing that area to delay it until midday tomorrow.” 

Lian Song was the Water God of the Four Seas, and all the minor rain god’s and goddesses reported to him.

“Since when has Dong Hua Dijun ever kindly requested anything?” The prince noted with amusement, “You are the most diplomatic housekeeper I’ve ever known, then again with Dijun as your master, I suppose you need to be.”.” The prince teased as he picked up a fan that had been haphazardly discarded next to the gold shavings on the table. 

Zhong Lin could see the gears turning in the prince’s head even as the man teased him, trying to figure out the strange puzzle Zhong Lin had presented. He almost sighed, if there was one thing that could test his sanity more than anything else, it was having this genius member of the gossip trio curious about his lord’s activities. 

“Well, who can resist such a sweetly worded plea? Certainly not me, wait here a moment.” The prince said as he disappeared in a wisp of cloud. 

Zhong Lin did not pass up the opportunity to look around. It seemed the prince had no other ongoing projects in this workshop but the charm he was making for his lord’s soon-to-arrive daughter.

Any request made by Dijun was generally more of an unspoken command, and Lian Song had received it as such. Dijun was only rarely involved in anything less than world ending calamities, universe destabilising wars or something of that nature. It was rarer still for Dijun to actually explain anything he was doing, and so everyone rightfully assumed any request from him was for good reason.

Zhong Lin found himself with a rare moment to simply stand and let his mind wonder, inevitably his musings focused on the man who just left.

The third prince Lian Song was undeniably a genius. Avoiding work, responsibility and political intrigue among his most noted skills. On the surface the third prince Lian Song was everything most expected to see in a third born son. Unburdened, unmotivated, just competent enough at the job he had been given to not be labelled inept, and certainly an inconspicuous womaniser.

Most who spent any amount of time around Lian Song and Dijun knew this was a carefully crafted façade. Zhong Lin was convinced Lian Song had foreseen what would happen if he had declared his love and intent to marry Cheng Yu all those years ago, before he ended their relationship. Tianjun would have never approved of his son marrying an ascended mortal, and judging by the later results of both Ye Hua and Sang Ji’s declarations of love to unacceptable women Lian Song had made the correct choice. 

Zhong Lin was about to start wondering if poor love-matches was just Heaven’s way of amusing itself, but he had no time to continue that train of thought as the Third Prince returned. 

Lian Song confirmed that there was no rain planned for that area from now until next week. Unfortunately for Zhong Lin the prince now had time to query the reason for the oddly specific request. True to his nature as one of the three legendary gossips, along with Si Ming and Cheng Yu the prince seemed intensely curious why Dijun of all people had bothered to ask for such a minor and frankly bizarre thing.

Zhong Lin had no answer to give, he had not asked his lord for his reasoning. Even if he did know, if his lord had not specifically said it was knowledge to be shared, Zhong Lin would not speak of it. Lian Song was the only being in the Nine Heavens close enough to Dijun that people would describe them as friends. And still Zhong Lin would not share it, such was his loyalty and protectiveness of his lord and his secrets, no matter how minor. In the end the prince had quickly given up and the jade charm was left resting on the table as the prince left to go and hunt down gossip, as was his wont. 

Zhong Lin returned to Taichen Palace, and had just finished informing Dijun that every order had been taken care of when he heard some small commotion outside and looked up.

Zhong Lin did not expect to see a woman of average height and beauty with a kindly looking face. She had the look of someone in their early forties, there were few wrinkles to be seen, but her long hair was flecked with many strands of grey and it made her seem older. Her clothing was primarily black with highlights of yellow struck throughout it. It was a poisonous look that all but screamed warning and danger. It was at odds with her wide eyes and the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, signs of one who smiled a lot. He supposed not everyone could have his lord’s refined sense of colour.

Such deities were generally exempt from such shows of deference, only in the most formal of circumstances was anything more than a waist bow required.

Indeed he noted the ancient High Gods Bai Zhi, Zhe Yan and Mo Yuan often greeted his lord with a simple bow of the head.

“This lowly commander offers greetings to the Shaoyang Monarch of the Purple Palace, Dong Hua Dijun.” 

He could not quite hide his surprise when he heard the High Goddess use such self-humbling language.

“General.” Was the noncommittal response from Dijun, acknowledging the goddesses presence.

The goddess raised her head and met his lord’s eyes, but did not rise from her kneeling position.

Zhong Lin found it strange that his lord did not give permission for this goddess to rise. Dijun instead moved to rest his cheek upon a closed fist and then spoke. “Has my reputation fallen so low through these longs years? That one of my generals sees fit to rush so swiftly to my side?” 

He could not figure out if his lord was playing a game with this goddess, or if he was truly annoyed. This was a source of some consternation on Zhong Lin’s part, he’d been chosen for his prestigious position partly based on his ability to understand his lord, and suddenly now he was finding it very difficult to do so.

“Never my lord. I saw the sky and hoped you might have use of this one. And so I arrogantly prepared for your summons.” 

There was a noncommittal hum from Dijun, to Zhong Lin it sounded slightly disappointed. As if his lord was anticipating a verbal spar, rather than the required reverence. Zhong Lin watched as Dijun rose and presented a scroll to the kneeling High Goddess.

“Early this evening the Queen of the Eastern Realm of Green Hill was ambushed and killed at these coordinates.”

A sharp intake of breath escaped him at his lord’s unconcerned and inflectionless delivery of the news that Bai Fengjiu was dead, seemingly murdered? Surely not?

The kneeling goddess glanced at him as she took the scroll from Dijun. It was piercing, full of sharp edged analysis, nothing like his lords leisured observation. He half expected the eyes that glanced at him to hold the same sickly yellow colour as her clothing, but they were normal, a dark brown. He felt like he was being dissected and discarded all in a single moment.

“Take your people and investigate, you have until midday tomorrow to provide a written report.”

“I hear and obey, my lord.” Zhong Lin saw the High Goddess raise the scroll she had been given above her head as she bowed, acknowledging the task she had been given.

“You may rise and go.” Dijun was already moving back to the low table upon the dais as the last syllable reached the edges of the room and faded into silence.

Zhong Lin watched as the High Goddess rose to her feet. She maintained a low bow facing Dijun until she was at the entrance, only then did she turn and rise from the bow and leave. 

He could not quite believe the news, Bai Fengjiu had been as beloved in the Nine Heavens as she was in Green Hill, she had brought light and laughter to sombre halls. Zhong Lin was blessed to serve his lord, lady and their little son. He had been quietly anticipating the arrival of the newest little highness. 

“The lady is dead?” his question sounded more like a breathy whisper than a question, almost as if his body did not want him to speak and confirm the tragedy. 

“Yes.” The tone was even and lord did not pause his writing. 

“And the child?” he asked, tentative but determined, he needed to know. His lord did not respond for a few seconds, and Zhong Lin’s fear grew and he dreaded the answer, if both had been lost…

“Alive.” Came the eventual response, the tone was the same, but he could tell his lord was irritated, as he had paused in his writing. 

To Zhong Lin this was very concerning; there was no one in all the Nine Heavens that had spent more time around Dijun and his family than Zhong Lin. He knew his lord loved Bai Fengjiu and his children more than life itself, how could Dijun now be so reserved, so cold?

“If you have nothing better to do than stare at me, have these delivered.” Dijun stated as a seventh scroll came to rest gently on top of its six brothers.

“At once Dijun.” He replied swiftly, bowing as he did so.

Zhong Lin had been considered wise in his youth, and though no longer young, he had only grown wiser. Such gathered wisdom meant he collected the tray of scrolls and left the room swiftly. The questions swirling in his head went unspoken and unanswered, utter confusion overrode all his emotions and thoughts. The grief he knew would hit him later, when there were no pressing tasks to complete.

He was Dijun’s steward and housekeeper of Taichen Palace, and it would be shameful if he started weeping in the corridor for all to see. For now he had his orders, and he would complete them.


	7. Chapter 7

Dong Hua wasn’t a compassionate or holy being, that fact had never changed. – Pillow Book

\-------------

High Goddess Ru Zhong was a footnote at best in the grand pages of history, and that was exactly how she preferred it. Despite being one of the legendary seventy two generals that had helped pacify the chaos of the past, there were few books that mentioned her. In those that did mention her, it was primarily as an organiser of supply lines and other mundane tasks. In only one book was anything else mentioned, and even then it was incorrect, suggesting her role was something of an assistant to her fellow general Tu Jian. Even her name was relatively unknown, despite being a High Goddess. Her near complete lack of any historical or political presence was exactly what she needed it to be.

After all, no one had ever thought it odd that she would be summoned first before the other generals when her lord went to war. Organising and planning supply routes was a critical aspect of any prolonged engagement, of course such things would need to be addressed first. In truth it was Tu Jian that managed such things, freeing Ru Zhong to act in the shadows. None outside of her fellow generals knew the truth behind the façade. 

Infiltration, assassination, political manipulations and other less savoury methods of information gathering, this was where she and her people provided use to her lord. Lord Shaoyang had seen worth in her all those years ago. She, a half-starved waif from a tribe that had betrayed the armies of heaven at a crucial moment. He had spared her, and she had worshipped the deity ever since. Her quick mind and willingness to do anything to survive, and later provide some use to her lord proved valuable. She would happily carve out her heart in offering if he asked it of her, he or his children, they were parts of him after all, living aspects of his divinity. 

Which brought her thoughts back to the unhappy realisation that Bai Fengjiu was dead. Someone or something had killed the person her god had loved above all beings. She would gladly offer herself and all her people to death if it would bring back her lord’s beloved. But she could not, and such thoughts of whimsy were not becoming of her. 

She had never failed any task her lord had set her or her people, this would be no different. But she would not lie and say this did not feel somewhat personal. Still, she was a professional and so she tucked away any feelings she had about the matter and focused on completing her task.

Ru Zhong’s true form was that of a turtle, but the waves of the sea and the winds of heaven held no love for her, nor she for them. But the land loved and listened, and so she asked the earth to share its memory. 

Normally it was impossible to see residual energy, spells or souls so clearly, but the eyes of Ru Zhong and this specific section of her people were special. The eyes of all of them had been replaced with those she had personally crafted. The sight she and her servants possessed was completely normal. The only difference was the fact that they could activate what she liked to call soul-sight, to be able to see the more intangible side of existence.

Her lord’s wife had a rather beautiful blue-white soul, bright and clear. Ru Zhong could see her lord’s little daughter glowing softly within, a red so pale it looked pink. She’d never seen that colour before; perhaps when the little one grew up it would become the same shade of red-gold that her lord possessed. She hoped so; she’d always thought her lord’s soul was the most beautiful in all creation.

Bai Fengjiu’s soul contrasted brightly against the black mist-like characteristic of ghost souls. It made the fight extremely easy to follow. She and her people flew to avoid touching any of the evidence, taking notes as the battle unfolded. 

She saw her lord’s wife pushed into the Ghost Realm, and further still, saw the blade that sliced her calf and watched as the three ghosts fled. She currently saw souls and spirits, not flesh and blood, but she imagined the removal of the child was quite bloody.

There was a small murmur of confusion from some of her people as Bai Fengjiu seemingly cut off part of her soul. Ru Zhong watched as the soul fragment changed form into a magical golden chariot with wheels of yellow flame, pulled by a red horse. She continued to watch as her lord’s wife made it across the border, the chariot lost its form and it disappeared from Ru Zhong’s magic sight.

Ah, that explained the fox tail they had found.

She saw her lord’s soul find his wife and disappear seconds later. She waited another minute and cancelled the spell when nothing of further significance occurred. The child’s soul had been distressingly dim at the end, but she was not concerned. Her lord would have mentioned if the child had died. 

Bai Fengjiu’s fatal mistake had been seeking to escape rather than fully committing to destroying her enemies from the start. Ru Zhong would never be a mother, but she had an academic understanding of the instinct all mother’s had to protect their children. The error was understandable, if regrettable. Regardless of Bai Fengjiu’s errors, someone had dared to take something from her lord, her god, and that was an insult she was not kind enough to ignore. 

Of the two male survivors one had left an arm and a blood trail behind, and the other their sword. All three of them would be far too easy to hunt down, how disappointing. She assigned two of her hunters to track the male ghosts and bring them back to Shenji mansion for interrogation.

Given what she had seen and the poisoned blade in her hand, it was clear the female ghost had been the direct cause of death of Bai Fengjiu. Ru Zhong would have to hunt her down personally.

She absently twirled the blade in her hand for a moment before she passed it to a servant to analyse. She ordered her people to finish their tasks, clear up the area and begin writing their respective reports ready for her to review before dawn. 

With everything else well in hand her focus was now to capture the uppity insect that had dared to kill her lord’s joy. 

“No challenge at all.” She sighed.

\-------------------- Same day, late morning

“-that is what this humble one concludes.”

Ru Zhong heard her voice echo slightly through the hall as she finished speaking. She was seated on a cushion in one of the smaller halls of Taichen Palace, which was still cavernous by any other standard. She had just finished giving her personal analysis of the events that resulted in the death of Bai Fengjiu on the border of the Ghost Realm. The cool marble floor of this hall would have caused her to feel uncomfortably chill, but her lord’s housekeeper Zhong Lin offered her tea at just the right moment. He informed her that tea had been hand grown and picked by her lord. It almost felt like sacrilege to consume the work of her lord’s hand, but it would be far ruder to decline it.

Still, the little spirit was perceptive, perhaps too much so. There would be a risk for him to remain in the room as she and her lord discussed the true reason she had been summoned in person, when all relevant information on Bai Fengjiu’s death was contained within the report resting in her lord’s hand. But perhaps her lord would allow the little hummingbird spirit to stay, Ru Zhong knew of the loyalty this housekeeper had toward her lord and his family. But then again, this matter was not so much a matter of loyalty as it was about morality. She supposed it would be cruel to burden a kind heart with dark knowledge when it was not needed. 

She brought the cup to her lips and used the movement to disguise the fact she was watching with half lidded eyes as her lord wave a hand and silently dismissed Zhong Lin. She hid a small reverent smile behind the cup as she drank the beautifully blended tea, her lord was often so benevolent when circumstances allowed. Her lord was unique among all beings, neither good nor evil, deity or demon, but something greater. A being well worthy of the worship bestowed upon him by lesser beings. 

In the silence of the hall the sound of her placing her cup on the table beside her was distinctive. It acted almost like a drumbeat during a play, separating one act from another. With no one else present but the two of them, there was no need to keep acting.

To the world at large she was summoned to present the report that detailed the circumstances and events that led to the death of the Queen of the Eastern Realm of Green Hill. The report she had written had stated that Bai Fengjiu had fought valiantly and made no mention of any survivors. There was no reason for anyone to think her presence in Taichen Palace today was for any other reason but that. In truth it was a beautifully choreographed ruse, a smokescreen to hide far more delicate discussions.

“Continue.” Came the order from her lord as he placed the report back on the table beside him.

She and her lord had always had an understanding. This part was delicate dance of words and intent, hidden meaning unspoken command, she had missed this the most. 

“In addition my lord, there are three surv-”

“Are there? I find that to be unlikely.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I apologise, of course there were none, I misspoke.” There was no further information she could gain from the three ghost’s her people had hunted down and interrogated. There were few reasons why someone might desire to hide their existence from the world. But her lord was the same now as he was three hundred thousand years ago, and his wife lay dead; she could guess.

“You did misspeak,” Her lord agreed, “As penance you can clean up the refuse that was left from the ambush.” 

Ru Zhong could not help it when her lips parted slightly in surprise. Not quite believing she had understood correctly she sought confirmation with her next words. 

“It will be a quick matter lord, less than a day, I am thankful that you have entrusted the task to me.” 

Her lord merely gave the smallest of incline of his head as confirmation. It was enough for her to be sure of his intent. 

“I understand, my lord.” 

She, Ru Zhong had been chosen as the vessel of her lords’ retribution, pass judgement in his place. She was deeply honoured. Her lord would never know the shape his vengeance had taken, he trusted her to deliver it. She was determined to honour that trust, and do justice to her lord’s wife.

“If you understand, why are you still here?”

They would never speak of this matter again. 

“My apologies Lord, with your permission, by your leave?” 

“You may go.” Came the permission to rise and leave, as she rose from her seated position her lord spoke again. “Ah, wait,” her lord drawled, as she turned and began to bow to her lord, her hand moved instinctively and caught something, “don’t get caught up.” 

She looked down to see a scroll and froze. 

The scroll was sealed with a wax crest of two colours. On a field of purple sat a silver sun with twenty four points, bright and defiant. 

The symbol of her lord at war. 

Something she had not seen for over three hundred thousand years.

Momentarily overcome with emotion she knelt down, and bowed until her forehead touched the floor. In reverence she held the bow and did not raise her head as she greeted her lord once more.

“General Ru Zhong greets the Monarch of the Purple Mansion, Lord Shaoyang” She was smiling, but as her head was lowered he could not see that she was being so unseemly, “I serve”. 

“Rise and go.” She rose and saw that her lord was already busy writing something.

She nearly skipped out of the hall. There were so many things to prepare, so much to do. She returned to Shenji mansion and only then did she open the scroll. A smaller roll of vellum was inside, but she read the scroll first.

As expected, it was a formal invitation to her lord’s war council to be held in the coming week at the Holy Blue Sea. 

She traced a finger across the elegant characters written by her lord, and allowed herself a small small of contentment and joy. She had never given up hope her lord would be active in the world again. Many of her fellow generals had ceased cultivating and had passed from old age, their lives seemingly empty and pointless if they could not be of use to Lord Shaoyang. The battle of Ruoshui a hundred thousand years ago had been the death-knell of their hopes. For if their lord did not involve himself in that event, what event or war could bring him from Taichen Palace? She was one of few outside of the Dragon and Fox Clans that knew the true reason he had not appeared at that crucial battle. She was glad her own faith had been rewarded, and wondered how many of her old contemporaries were left. Which of them had kept faith, and would now have the honour of fighting under the silversun banner of Lord Shaoyang once more?

Ru Zhong was still musing on the past as she unrolled the smaller vellum scroll and almost let a frown crease her brow as she read it. What did this instruction mean for the upcoming war? How did this fit? Her lord rarely gave such specific orders; one did not become a general of Lord Shaoyang by needing their hand held at every moment.

She had already been tracking and keeping tabs on those two, she kept careful track of all potential people of influence or note. Indeed the only place she did not have eyes, ears and blades was Taichen Palace and those that had close contact with her lord. Still he’d send someone to trail them full-time to ensure nothing happened to them in the next three weeks. 

Most believed that Yan Chiwu the demon lord of the blue clan had the greatest information and spy network in all the realms. But then most people were idiots. Anyone who was known to have an information network was really not good at their job.

Her thought turned to how she would tidy up the remnants from the ambush. It wouldn’t do to have any unsightly or inconvenient mess lying around after all. Not when there was a war to prepare for.

She felt young again.

Almost immediately on returning to her mansion Ru Zhong got to work. She had spent very little time dealing with the two male ghosts they had captured. She had fed them to the multi-headed snake beast that lived beneath the lake her mansion was built beside. No one approached the place where her mansion was hidden thanks to the beast, and she made sure to occasionally keep it happy by feeding it the occasional treat.

She had chosen the order of their deaths carefully. The male who had not directly harmed Fengjiu had been fed to it headfirst, a quick death as the creature’s sharp fangs and spiny throat pierced his head. The other who had sliced Fengjiu’s arm had been fed to it second and feet first. It had taken the half-full beast a good hour to eat that one, but the screams had only died off at the end. 

The beast saliva had an interesting property, it kept one awake and alert for many hours. A good amount of her wealth had come from selling concoctions crafted with that saliva to desperate students and scholars hoping to impress the higher lords of heaven into becoming ministers and servants of the heavenly palaces. Though she doubted the ghost had been particular appreciative of its effects.

Still, such work made her hungry and she had not eaten since she had been summoned to her lord’s palace. She had just started to eat a wonderful late lunch when her last unwilling guest started to wake. The chains that pinned her guest to the wall rattled as the woman stirred. She and her guest were the only two beings in the small room. It was a cube of roughly cut rock, with a single door, and no decorations or furniture, save the rock table and chair she had summoned. 

There was confusion in the woman’s eyes and wariness tinged with fear. Likely a result of her earlier treatment. There were many methods of memory extraction, all of them uncomfortable, most of them painful. Her people had extracted all useful information from the woman’s memories, and had not been particularly delicate about it. Disappointingly there was no terror in the woman’s eyes, but that would come later. She noticed a slight tremor run through the woman’s frame, but that was likely just a physical reaction to being cold, as the woman had not been provided new clothing since her servants had taken the woman’s garments to analyse. 

“I pity you, a little. How unlucky you are that fate chose you as its unwitting tool.” Ru Zhong spoke into the silence, not particularly caring if her guest was coherent enough to understand her yet or not. 

She selected the largest clam on the plate in front of her, taking care to scoop some runaway chili’s onto the meat before she ate it. The meal was delicious and she was savouring it, but it was not the meal before her that she had been looking forward to enjoying the most. The torment of the creature before her? That was a much more delicious prospect. The woman now seemed slightly more lucid, and so Ru Zhong continued to speak.

“The fact that she was killed by a weakling such as you is unacceptable. It’s an insult to our lord, and we generals are not known to take such things lightly. You see, if you were an extremely powerful High God, with armies spanning across the world, there’d be some risk to keeping you alive, and I’d have to kill you.” 

Here she used the empty clam shell in her hand to gesture at the woman, “But you are little more than an insect with arms, you pose no threat at all.” She paused here for a few moments, for no other reason than to give the fool hope that she might be released.

“Unfortunately for you, that means I get to keep you alive as long as I wish.” She then turned her attention back to the plate at her side and selected the main element of the dish. Before her was the delicately prepared breast meat from a wild crow. The true form of nearly all ghost tribe members was often some species of black bird, crow’s chief among them. She enjoyed the symbolism almost as much as she enjoyed the gamy taste and hummed, pleased.

“Pleas-” Came the attempted plea. But she was not in the mood to listen to such ramblings, not yet. She waved a hand at the woman and watched the panic rise in the woman’s eyes as her mouth began to knit together, sealing it shut. 

“Insects should not chitter so freely, and it’s rude to interrupt,” She ‘tsk’d and waggled a finger in reprimand. She cleaned her hands with the lemon scented bowl of water, and leisurely wiped them dry before she turned her attention back to the woman once more. 

“Ah! But I’ve been very rude and not introduced myself; my name is Ru Zhong, nice to meet you.” Here she offered a warm, genial smile to the woman in greeting. Outwardly she ignored the panic and fear that had etched its way on to the woman’s face, but internally she savoured it. 

“But don’t worry about introducing yourself Ju Li, I know all about you.” She was grateful the woman had no family or friends, thanks to the turmoil in the Ghost Realm. Ru Zhong would not have been able to resist the poetic justice of slowly killing them while making the ghost woman watch. Her lord would disapprove of such excess if he found out. He often preferred simpler and tidier solutions, and so she was glad the temptation was removed.

“But as you don’t about know me, I’ll be gracious and tell you a little bit, just so we’re even.” Here she rose from her seat, grabbed a few nuts from the bowl to eat while she explained.

“Did you know that it was my lord that gave me this name? He named many of us generals, for in the blood-soaked fields of prehistory none but nobles had proper names. Many of us were young and nameless, slaves and vagabonds. Orphans of wars that had spanned half a million years, but we had talent and he pitied us. He took us in, and we became as siblings to one another, we had names and our lives had worth and meaning. In time we rose through the ranks and became his generals, and the names he gave us were known throughout the world.”

“We generals worship and love our lord, we serve only him. He is our father and mother, our lord and general, our king and god.” She walked over and held Ju Li’s chin, she ran a thumb over the tearstained cheek in a delicate caress. “And you killed his wife, nearly killed his daughter, and his two children are now motherless. Did you really think that mercy is something I would offer?” She asked, her tone dripping scorn.

She jerked Ju Li’s chin harshly, forcing their eyes to meet. “There is nothing in this world that is not worth knowing. There are many spells I’ve seen in my life that I’ve never had the chance to replicate. Ethics. You understand?” she felt the woman attempting to nod in frantic agreement, but Ru Zhong’s grip was steel. 

“But here you are, ready to help.” She caressed the woman’s cheek with her thumb before she released her grip completely.

The woman had taken such a pretty thing from the world, it was only fair she play host to another. Her hand rose to her captive’s forehead, she pressed her forefinger to the same place Bai Fengjiu’s birthmark had been and set her seal. Dark purple light flashed for a moment and when she removed her finger a black tendril seal resembling a spider remained. ‘pretty’ was subjective, but Ru Zhong thought it was beautiful, a physical manifestation of her lords vengeance.

Fear and worry were now truly evident in the woman’s eyes, Ru Zhong stepped back to admire her work. “Don’t worry, that was just a little something, I’ll explain in a moment.” 

It was rude to eat while speaking with someone, but when did one need to show courtesy to an uppity worm. She sat back down to take a sip of her now lukewarm tea and started to tell her little story. She glossed over the who’s, where’s and why’s of the tale, and started going in to more detail when she reached the more interesting parts.

“He gouged out his eyes, bit off his tongue and tried to choke on it, his fingers were bloody stubs where he had tried to claw out his heart to make it stop. And I watched as each wound mended and he did not die.” She frowned at the bowl when she realised there were no more ginkgo nuts left. She settled on a few pine nuts instead. She preferred savoury snacks, she’d never been one for sweet things. She was still eating as she continued.

“It was only a day until his mind broke, overloaded with agony and overwhelmed with horror. He simply lay drooling on the floor. Occasionally he twitched as his mind half-remembered to signal pain. As he was unable to recognise that he was suffering anymore they ended the spell and allowed him to die.” 

She rose and finished the last of her cold tea, grimacing slightly at the taste. A nonchalant gesture at the stone table and chair sent them melding back into the wall. The only objects in the room now were the clothes she was wearing, the cup she was holding and the chains that bound Ju Li to the wall. 

She used her empty cup to gesture at the woman’s head. “Which brings me to that pretty little seal I placed on your forehead.”

“When your mind is about to break and relieve you of your suffering, that seal with prevent it. You will have a few seconds of clarity to understand the situation before it starts all over again.” 

Terrified tear streaked eyes met her own, and Ru Zhong savoured the moment. She then cast two spells in quick succession. The first bound the woman’s soul to the very stones of the room, denying her soul the ability to dissipate, regardless of the damage done to body, mind and soul. The second was the spell she had wanted to test for so long, and who else was more worthy to receive it than the creature before her?

She watched in fascination as the woman quickly devolved into a creature of pure instinct, trying to do anything possible to stop the horror it was going through. Ju Li’s mouth was still sealed, but the sounds coming from it were clearly those of sheer unmistakable agony. It had been only five minutes and she had already witnessed the woman try to end her life, and thus her suffering in multiple ways. Trying to crack her head against the wall was the most boring, but watching the woman try and strangle herself with the chains on her wrists was entertaining. She continued to watch, and when the woman tried for a second time to die by shoving her hand down her throat Ru Zhong decided the woman had a good understanding of the spells effects. She herself had some lovely data to work with, it was a good day. She cancelled the spell and continued to watch how long it took for the woman to regain some semblance of coherency, minutes later the wild, animalistic look faded from the womans eyes, but the terror remained, good. 

Ru Zhong reached into her robe and pulled out a dagger. “Do you recognise this?” She asked the chained woman.

It took a moment for Ju Li’s eyes to focus through the pain and tears but once they did she froze, eyes wide.

“That’s right, it’s yours, the same poisoned blade you used to kill my lord’s pregnant wife.”

“You will have a minute little Ju Li,” She savoured the name, pausing at each part. “Speak, beg, pray to whatever god it is you think might save you. If you beg nicely I might even cut you with it and grant you the same death my lady suffered.”

“Oh, but you’ll have to beg very prettily, the god I worship is not known for mercy.” And she was being very honest there. Her lord had been the one to set the laws of heaven, not the silly rules that the current Tianjun had set, but the laws. The punishment for breaking most of them was to be struck with heavenly lightning, which felt like ones soul was being torn apart with every strike.

She dispelled the mouth-closing spell, and proceeded to pay very little attention to the woman before her as she begged for death. ‘I did not know’s’ and various apologies and plea’s glided over her like water off a turtles back. Ha, that was an amusing thought, being as she was a turtle herself. After a minute had passed she asked the woman for silence, and like a good captive the woman instantly shut up. She was slightly disappointed, she preferred the defiant ones, they were more fun. She did have a time limit, and her lord had warned her not to get too caught up, she did have various war strategies to plan. 

“Don’t you remember my promise little Ju Li?” She asked, the woman desperately shook her head in a clear ‘no’, and opened her mouth to speak, but Ru Zhong continued before she had a chance, “So rude of you to forget.” 

“ru-, very rude, I’m sorry pleas-” Came the last desperate unthinking words of a tortured soul. 

“Mercy was never something you were going to receive from me.” Amused, she recast the spell. 

Ru Zhong watched the woman’s limbs begin to tense in agony, and her eyes widened in horror as the spell took hold once more.

“The stars will fall, the air will be flame. And you’ll still be here, screaming.” She noted aloud, but doubted the woman could understand her, perhaps she should have said that before she cast the spell? Ah well, no matter now. 

Satisfied Ru Zhong rose and vanished the chains from Ju Li’s wrists, chains were no longer required, the woman’s very soul was bound to the room. As she left the room she waved the cup in parting at the now writhing woman on the floor. 

“Congratulations on your new eternity!” She exclaimed with excessive cheer. 

The first scream was cut off as the door closed and the room sealed. A moment later the door disappeared, and the smooth stone of the corridor returned. She was smiling as she exited the disused corridor and entered the more inhabited area of her mansion. She stopped the first servant she saw, and placed the empty cup in the servants hand as she gave her order. 

“Bring out all the tapestries we have in storage, I’d like to view them later. I’ve just seen a blank spot in the northwest corridor that would be perfected with one.” She’d see if any of them had chrysanthemums on them, if not perhaps she’d commission one. 

“At once my lady.” Came the response, and the servant was gone. 

As the servant vanished into another corridor she remembered that Bai Fengjiu’s father Bai Yi was said to be a brilliant artist. Perhaps she could acquire a canvas piece from him. That would be fitting, Fengjiu’s father would unknowingly create the piece that would mark the place where his daughter’s killer lived in eternal torment. 

Pleased with that idea, Ru Zhong started to hum a happy tune as she walked toward the meeting room where her commanders were assembled. Her fellow general Tu Jian had likely already sent her own people to scout the land for any areas of geographical interest in preparation for war. It would not do for her own to be delayed. Figuring out the power dynamics of a realm so wrapped in chaos would take a bit of time, even for her people. Who to impersonate, threaten, kill or turn to their side was always the most important part of her work, a mistake this early could be catastrophic. 

In the last war they had fought under their lord’s banner it had been Tu Jian’s contributions that had played a more key role in the overall victory than her own. They were both information specialists of different sorts, and had been friendly rivals since Tu Jian had risen to the rank of a general of Lord Shaoyang. 

This time it would be different, she was determined to prove her worthiness to serve her god.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully Ru Zhong comes across as a bit...extremely devoted? It was my hope to have her make people uncomfortable to read ^^.  
> Next chapter we'll be back with the Bai family, and meet a few new characters!  
> If anyone has any ideas of things they'd like to me more/less of please say ^^


End file.
